ee se eae ae ; bi) i 4 # University of Virginia Library B132.Y6 V58 1927 ALD Raja yoga : Vedanta philosoph WWM Px OUD i O54frorm books of EDITH ARMSTRONG RRSP Re SENN SSIS IN AR LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PRESENTED BY Mrs. Genevieve Frank re Be TER rae EhPERTH Oa Rene mune Tn ten | ain ent Comet potas Et Sere ere terest~ er Gs Pil jenn pS Tar my a a ) May og hingesRAJA YOGAcan SWAMI VIVEKANANDA REPRESENTATIVE OF THE HINDU RELIGION AT THE WORLD’S OF RE LIGIONS, ELD IN ¢ HICAGO, 1893 rere hopes Soe tears Ne Tet PL LOLOL LatinVEDANTA PHILOSOPHY RAJA YOGA BEING LECTURES BY THE SWAMI VIVEKANANDA WITH PATANJALI’S APHORISMS, COMMENTARIES AND A GLOSSARY OF TERMS NEW EDITION, WITH ENLARGED GLOSSARY NEW YORK BRENTANO’S 1927 ng TT ee ire cnaegee TS ish ee ta cae Ca ntCOPYRIGHT, 1897, BY VEED-PARSONS PRINTING COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY BRENTANO’S Manufactured in the United States of America anyidenH:EACH SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE. THE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THIS DIVINITY WITHIN, BY CON- TROLLING NATURE, EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL, Do THIS EITHER BY WORK, OR WORSHIP, OR PSYCHIC CON- TROL, OR PHILOSOPHY, BY ONE, OR MORE, OR ALL OF THESE—= AND BE FREF, THIS IS THE WHOLE OF RELIGION, DOCTRINES, OR DOGMAS, OR RITUALS, OR BOOKS, OR TEMPLES, OR FORMS, ARE BUT SECONDARY DETAILS,rs i a ae 5: e zPREFACE Since the dawn of history, various extraordinary phenomena have been recorded as happening amongst human beings. Witnesses are not wanting in modern times to attest to the fact of such events, even in socie- ties living under the full blaze of modern science. The vast mass of such evidence is unreliable, as coming from ignorant, superstitious, or fraudulent persons. In many instances the so-called miracles are imitations. But what do they imitate? It is not the sign of a candid and scientific mind to throw overboard anything without proper investigation. Surface scientists, unable to ex- plain the various extraordinary mental phenomena, strive to ignore their very existence. They are, there- fore, more culpable than those who think that their prayers are answered by a being, or beings, above the clouds, or than those who believe that their petitions will make such beings change the course of the uni- verse. The latter have the excuse of ignorance, or at least of a false system of education in their childhood, which has taught them to depend upon such beings for [ix] Eerie- Se TS POT ce AE ee SMA RAAT a RET NP te x PREFACE. help, and this dependence has now become a part of their degenerate nature. The former have no such excuse. For thousands of years such phenomena have been investigated, studied, and generalised, the whole ground of the religious faculties of man has been analysed, and the practical result is the science of Réja Yoga. Réja Yoga does not, after the unpardonable manner of some modern scientists, deny the existence of facts which are very difficult to explain; on the other hand, it gently, yet in no uncertain terms, tells the superstitious that mira- cles and answers to prayers, and powers of faith, though x true as facts, are not rendered comprehensible through the superstitious explanation of attributing them to Y the agency of a being, or beings, above the clouds. It declares to mankind that each being is only a conduit “for the infinite ocean of knowledge and power that lies behind. It teaches that desires and wants are in man, that the power of of supply is also in man; and that wher- ever and whenever a desire, a want, a prayer, has been fulfilled, it was out of this infinite magazine that the supply came, and not from any supernatural being. The idea of supernatural beings may rouse toa certain extent the power of action in man, but it also brings spiritual \_—decay. It brings dependence; it brings fear; it brings superstition. It degenerates intoa horrible belief in thePREFACE. xi natural weakness of man. There is no supernatural, says the Yog?, but there are in nature gross manifesta- tions and subtle manifestations. The subtle are the . causes, the gross the effects. The gross can be easily perceived by the senses; not so the subtle. The practice of Rdja Yoga will lead to the acquisition of the more subtle perceptions. All the orthodox systems of Indian philosophy have one goal in view, the liberation of the soul through per- fection. The method is by Yoga. The word Yoga covers an immense ground, but both the Sénkhya and the Vedéntist Schools point to Yoga in some form or other. The subject of the first lectures in the present book is that form of Yoga known as dja Yoga. The aphorisms of Patanjaii are the highest authority and . text book on dja Yoga. The other philosophers, though occasionally differing from /Patanjali in some philosophical aspect, have, as a rule, acceded to his The first part of this book is comprised of several lectures to method of practice a decided consent. classes delivered by the present writer in New York. The second part is a rather free translation of the aphorisms (S¢@¢ras) of Patanjali, with a running com- mentary. Effort has been made to avoid technicalities as far as possible, and to keep to the free and easy style PTs a rrr: o Fe ameme ee tet Te aoe\ r | xii PREFACE of conversation. In the first part some simple and specific directions are given for the student who wants to practise, but all such are especially and earnestly reminded that, with few exceptions, Yoga can only be safely learned by direct contact withateacher. Ifthese conversations succeed in awakening a desire for further information on the subject, the teacher will not be wanting. The system of Patanjali is based upon the system of the Sézkhyas, the points of difference being very few. The two most important differences are, first that Pa¢- anjali admits a Personal God in the form of a first teacher, while the only God the Séukhyas admit is a nearly perfected being, temporarily in charge of a cycle. Second, the Yog?s hold the mind to be equally all-per- vading with the soul, or Puruga, and the Sénkhyas do not. THe AvuTHOR. wy he LS CUTE Rr rrr rrrCONTENTS RAJA YOGA. PAGE, PREFACE . . . 7 . ; : ix CHAP. I, INTRODUCTORY : : : . ; : I II. THe First STEPS . : : : sty 07, III. PrANaA : : , : : : 417220 IV. THe PsycHiIc PRANA . . . : Az, V. THE CONTROL OF PsycHIC PRANA . : SS VI. PRATYAHARA AND DHARANA . , wan VII. DuyANA AND SAMDAHI : : : as ir. VIII. RAya YOGA IN BRIEF . ‘ : ‘ sy FOO PATANJALI’S YOGA APHORISMS. INTRODUCTION ; ; ; : : OF, I. CONCENTRATION: ITS SPIRITUAL USES . .*) 104 Il. is ITs PRACTICE . : si 147 [xiii] SAL Le a ate ee eet St eee a Peeere het: boas tats toi THe METHOD AND THE MEANS X1V CONTENTS. CHAP. III. THe Cuaprer or Powers IV. INDEPENDENCE APPENDIX IMMORTALITY BHAKTI-YOGA. DEFINITION OF BHAKTI . THe PuiLosopHy or Isvara SPIRITUAL REALISATION, THE AIM OF BHAKTI- Yoca : é THe NEED ofr a GuRU . . + . . . QUALIFICATIONS OF THE ASPIRANT AND THE TEACHER . ; INCARNATE TEACHERS AND INCARNATION THe Mantra: Om: Worp AND WIspoM ° . . WorsHIP oF Sugstitutes AND IMAGES THE CHOSEN IDEAL . . . . o < PAGE 189 207 224 231 251 258 265 268 271 278 282 286 289CONTENTS. PARA-BHAKTI OR SUPREME DEVOTION THE PREPARATORY RENUNCIATION ; THE BHAKTA’s RENUNCIATION RESULTS FROM LOVE THE NATURALNESS OF BHAKTI-YOGA AND Its CEN- TRAL SECRET : : : , : ; THE ForMs oF LovEe-MANIFESTATION : UNIVERSAL LovE AND How It LeEAps To SELF-SUR- RENDER : : ; ; : : : THE HIGHER KNOWLEDGE AND THE HIGHER LOVE ARE ONE TO THE TRUE LOVER . : ; ‘ THE TRIANGLE OF LovE . ‘ : i . ; THE Gop or LovE 1s His OWN PROOF . . HuMAN REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DIVINE IDEAL OF Love . .: A : : ; $ : CONCLUSION . ‘. : n ; , < ; GLOSSARY 2 5 5 A : . PAGE 301 395 310 312 315 320 322 327 329 337 341 | a| ie iS Fi feRAJA YOGA OR CONQUERING THE INTERNAL NATURE CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY, ALL our knowledge is based upon experience. What we Call inferential knowledge, in which we go from the less general to the more general, or from the general to the particular, has experience as its basis. In what are called the exact sciences, people easily find the truth, because it appeals to the particular experiences of every human being. The scientist does not tell you to believe in anything, but he has certain results which come from his own experiences, and reasoning on these experiences, when he asks us to believe in his conclusions, he appeals to some universal experience of humanity. In every exact science there is a universal basis which is common to all humanity, so that we can at once see the truth or the fallacy of the conclusions drawn therefrom. Now, the question is, has religion any such basis or not? I shall have to answer the question both in the affirmative and in thenegative. Religion, asit is generally taught [x] 4 Le BPhe taherkteter yt 2 RAJA YOGA. all over the world, is said to be based upon faith and belief, and, in most cases, consists only of different sets of theories, and that is the reason why we find all these various religions quarrelling with each other, These theories, again, are based upon belief. One man says there is a great Being sitting above the clouds and governing the whole universe, and he asks me to believe that, solely on the authority of his assertion. In the same way I may have my own ideas, which I am asking \ others to believe, and if they ask a reason, I cannot supply them with any. This is why religion and meta- physical philosophy have a bad name nowadays. Every | educated man seems to say: ‘‘Oh,these religions are only bundles of theories without any standard to judge them by, each man preaching his own pet ideas.’’ At the ' Same time I must tell you that there is a basis of uni- versal belief in religion, governing all these different theories, and all the varying ideas of different sects of men in different countries. Going to the basis of them we find that they also are based upon _ universal experiences, In the first place I will ask you to analyse all the various religions of the world. You will find that these are divided into two classes, those with a book, and those without a book. Those witha book are the strongest, and have the largest number of followers. Those with- out books have mostly died out, and the few new ones have very small followings. Yet, in all of them we find one consensus of opinion, that the truths they teach are the results of the experiences of particular persons, beers iS bibs mebeeehtel cit sil Ei 4 if iyINTRODUCTORY, 3 The Christian asks you to believe in his religion, to believe in Christ, and to believe in Him as the incarna- tion of God, to believe in a God, ina soul, and ina better state of that soul. If I ask him for reasons he says, “‘ No, it is my belief.’”’ But if you go to the fountain head of Christianity you will find that it is based upon experience: Christ said He saw God; the disciples said they felt God; andso forth. Similarly, in Buddhism, it is Buddha’s experience — He experienced certain truths, saw them, came in contact with them, and preached themtothe world. So withthe Hindus — in their book the writers, who are called &ishis, or sages, declare they have experienced certain truths, and these they preach. Thusitis clear that all the religions of the world have been built upon that one universal and adamantine foundation of all our knowledge —direct experience. The teachers all saw God; they all saw their own souls, they saw their eternity, they saw their future, and what they saw they preached. Only there is this difference, that in most of these religions, espe- cially in modern times, a peculiar claim is put before us, and that claim is that these experiences are impos- sible at the present day; they were only possible with a few men, who were the first founders of the religions that subsequently bore their names. At the present time these experiences have become obsolete, and therefore we have now to take religion on belief. This I entirely deny. If there has been one case of experience in this world in any particular branch of knowledge it absolutely follows that this experienceerate BL Ree) 4 RAJA YOGA. has been possible millions of times pefore, and will be repeated eternally. Uniformity is the rigorous law of nature; what once happened can happen always. The teachers of the science of Yoga, therefore, declare that religion is not only based upon the experience of ancient times, but that no man can be religious until he has the same perceptions himself. Yoga is the science which teaches us how to get these perceptions. It is useless to talk about religion until one has felt it. Why is there so much disturbance, so much fighting and quarrelling in the name of God? ‘There has been more bloodshed in the name of God than for any other cause, and the reason is that people never went to the fountain | head; they were content only to give a mental assent to the customs of their forefathers, and wanted others to | do the same. What right has a man to say he hasa soul if he does not feel it, or that there is a God if he does not see Him? If thereis aGod we must see Him, if there is a soul we must perceive it; otherwise it is better not to believe. It is better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite. ‘The modern idea, on the one hand, with the ‘‘ learned,’’ is that religion and meta- physics, and all search after a Supreme Being, is futile; on the other hand, with the semi-educated, the idea seems to be that these things really have no basis, that their only value consists in the fact that they are strong motive powers for doing good to the world. If men believe in a God,they may become good, and moral, and so make good citizens. We cannot blame them for holding such ideas, seeing that all the teaching these eo PPINTRODUCTORY. 5 men get is simply to believe in an eternal rigmarole of words, without any substance behind them. They are asked to live upon words; can they do it? If they could, I should not have the least regard for human nature. Man wants truth, wants to experience truth for himself, to grasp it, to realise it, to feel it within his heart of hearts; then alone, declare the Vedas, will all doubts vanish, all darkness be scattered, and all crooked- ness be made straight. ‘‘ Ye children of immortality, even those who live in the highest sphere, the way is found; there is a way out of all this darkness, and that is by perceiving Him Who is beyond all darkness, and there is no other way.”’ The science of Réja Yoga proposes to put before ‘ humanity a practical and scientifically worked-out method of reaching this truth. In the first place, every science must have its own method of investigation. If you want to become an astronomer, and sit down and cry ‘‘Astronomy, astronomy!”’ it will never come to you. The same with chemistry. A certain method must be followed. You must go to the laboratory, take the different substances, mix them up, compound them, experiment with them, and out of that will come a knowledge of chemistry. If you want to be an astro- nomer you must go to the observatory, take a telescope, study the stars and planets, and then you will become an astronomer. Eachscience must have its own methods. I could preach you thousands of sermons, but they would not make you religious, until you first practised the method. These are the truths of the sages of all Ceern ose rary many. dja Yoga pro- poses to start from the internal world, to study internal — nature, and, through that, control the whole — both iternal and external. Itisa very old attempt. India has been its special stronghold but it was also attempted by other nations. In Western countries it is thought to be mysticism. People who wanted to practise it were either burned or killed as witches and sorcerers, and in India, for various reasons, it fell into the hands of persons who destroyed go per cent. of the knowl- edge, and of that portion which remained tried to make a great secret. In modern times many so-called teachers have arisen worse than those of India, because the latter knew something, while these modern expo- nents do not. Anything that is secret and mysterious in these SyS- , tems of Yoga should be at once rejected. The best guide in life is strength. In religion, as in everything else, discard everything that weakens you, have noth- ing to do with it. All mystery-mongering weakens the human brain. Through it this science of Yoga has been well nigh destroyed, but it is really one of the grandest of sciences. From the time that it was dis- covered, more than 4000 years ago, it was perfectly delineated and formulated_and aeceened in India, and it is a striking fact, that the more modern the com ler Pe ET) ° Frere rere eee ye ed Sere ena a nae nde, ) Seen ald my LY DN Tne Ra aE Lisle ae MEL label peta beiety aera Eas. ot a) pcre 5 3 7) y ,INTRODUCTORY. 13 mentator, the greater the mistakes he makes. The more ancient the writer on it the more rational he is. Most of the modern writers talk of all sorts of mystery. Thus it fell into the hands of a few persons who made_ it a secret, instead of letting the full blaze of daylight and reason fall upon it, and they did so that they might have the powers to themselves. In the first place there is no mystery in what I preach. What little I know I will tell you. So far as I can reason it out I will do so, but what I do not know I will simply tell you that it is what the books say. It is wrong to blindly believe. You must exer- cise your own reason and judgment; you must prac- tise, and see whether these things happen ornot. Just as you would take up any other science of a material nature, exactly in the same manner you should take up this science for study. There is neither mystery nor danger. in it. So far as it is true it ought to be preached in the public streets, in the broad daylight. Any attempt to mystify these things is productive of great danger. Before proceeding further, I will state to you a little »7 of the Sénkhya Philosophy, upon which the whole of * Réja Yoga is based. According to this philosophy perception comes through instruments, e. g., the eyes; the eyes carry it to the organs, the organs to the mind, the mind to the determinative faculty, from this the Puruga (the soul) receives it, and gives the order back, as it were, and so on through all these stages. In this way sensations are received. With the exception of themuch finer material than the external instruments. That material of which the mind is composed becomes grosser, and becomes what is called the ZYanmdtras It becomes still grosser and forms the external mate- rial. That is the psychology of the Sdukhya. So that, between the intellect and the grosser matter outside there is only a difference in degree. The Purufa is the only thing which is immaterial. Mind is an instru- ment in the hands of the soul, as it were, through which the soul catches external objects. This mind is constantly changing and vacillating, and it can either attach itself to several organs, or to one, or to none. For instance, if I hear the clock with great attention I | will not, perhaps, see anything, although my eyes may be open, showing that the mind was not attached to the seeing organ, although it was to the hearing organ. And the mind, in the same way, can be attached to all the organs simultaneously. This mind has the reflexive wer of looking back into its own depths. This ~~_reflexive power is what the Yog? wants to attain; by concentrating the powers of the mind, and turning them inward, he seeks to know what is happening inside. There is in this no question of mere belief; it \_Afs the analysis of certain philosophers. Modern physi- ologists tell you that the eyes are not the organs of vision, but that the organs are in the nerve centre in the brain, and so with all the senses; and they also tell you that these centres are formed of the same material as the brain itself. So the Sézkfyas will also tell you, } 14 RAJA YOGA. : Puruga all of these are material, but the mind is of | f ' Deere nc teen ee eee reins Ct. ce nT ; 3 an ee oe en eran eee n eras aoa eT eer ein het Lee a - . elo geriteti Sy=tbedeater lacs legeepatepesacasesy 2 | Ny hea Ly OOO aT ance SESE OS ag AQ SUSY Od Leer SeinINTRODUCTORY. 15 but one is a statement on the physical side, and the other on the psychological side; yet both are the same. Beyond this we have to demonstrate. The Yog? proposes to himself to attain to that fine state of perception in which he can perceive all these things. There must be mental perception of all the different states. We shall perceive how the sensation is travelling, and how the mind is receiving it, how it is going to the determinative faculty, and how this gives it to the Purusa. As each science requires certain preparations, as each science has its own method, until we follow that method we can never understand that science; so in Ada Yoga. Certain regulations as to food are necessary; we must use that food which brings us the purest mind. If you go into a menagerie you will find this demon- strated at once. You see the elephants, huge ani- mals, but calm and gentle; and if you go toward the cages of the lions and tigers you will find them restless, showing how much difference has been produced by food. All the forces that are working in this body have been produced out of food; we see that every day. If you begin to fast, first your body will get weak, the physical forces will suffer; then, after a few days, the mental forces will suffer also. First, memory will fail, Then comes a point, when you are not able to think, much less to pursue any course of reasoning. We have, therefore, to take care what sort of food we eat at the beginning, and when we have got strength enough, when our practice is well advanced, we needa rere . Ss Fhe sre REIS! 16 RAJA YOGA. growing it must be hedged round, lest it be injured; but when it becomes a tree the hedges are taken away; ‘t is strong enough to withstand all assaults. A Yogi must avoid the two extremes of luxury and austerity. He must not fast, or torture his flesh; he who does so, says the Gité, cannot be a Yogi; he who fasts; he who keeps awake; he who sleeps much; he who works too much; he who does no work; none of these can be Yogés, } | not be so careful in this respect. While the plant is _— fi ~a,4 TERE PAE aoERERE Rar CULL coud icsiak atone bile ed ee ae a ate ee en Sed ns PRT AND at, — ~s os q " sabes a geear| Se eeets oh wot] Se BU Atti eee ere eta v jieCHAPTER Ii. THE FIRST STEPS. Raja Yoca is divided into eight steps. The first is Yama — non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, con- tinence, and non-receiving of any gifts. Next is Niyama — cleanliness, contentment, mortification, study, and self-surrender to God. Then comes Asana, or posture; Prdnzdydma, or controlling the vital forces of the body; Pratyéhdra, or making the mind introspec- tive; Dhérand, or concentration; Dhydnd, or medita- tion; and Samédhi, or super-consciousness. The Yama and (Viyama, as we see, are moral trainings, without these as the basis no practice of Yoga will succeed. As these practices become established the Yog? will begin to realise the fruits of his practice; without these it will never bear fruit. A Yog?# must not think of injur- ing anyone, through thought, word or deed, and this applies not only to man, but to all animals. Mercy shall not be for men alone, but shall go beyond, and embrace the whole world. The next step is Asana, posture; a series of exer- cises, physical and mental, is to be gone through every day, until certain higher states are reached. There- fore it is quite necessary that we should find a posture in which we can remain long. That posture which is easiest for each one is the posture to use. For one 2 [17]} SE. eee siarosore 18 RAJA YOGA. man it may be very easy to think in a certain posture, but this may be very difficult for another. We will find later on that in the study of these psychological mat- ters there will be a good deal of action going on in the body. Nerve currents will have to be displaced and given a new channel. New sorts of vibrations will begin, the whole constitution will be remodelled, as it were. But the main part of the action will lie along \_ the spinal column, so that the one thing necessary for the posture is to hold the spinal column free, sitting erect, holding the three parts —the chest, neck, and head —in a straight line. Let the whole weight of the body be supported by the ribs, and then you have an easy natural posture, with the spine straight. You | will naturally see that you cannot think very high / thoughts with the chest in. This portion of the Yoga is a little similar to the Hatha Yoga, which deals entirely with the physical body; the aim of the latter is to make the physical body very strong. We have notning to do with that here, because its practices are very diff- cult, and cannot be learned in a day, and, after all, do not lead to any spiritual growth. Many of these prac- tices you will find in Delsarte, and other teachers, such as placing the body in different postures, but the object in these is physical, not psychological. There is not one muscle in the body over which a man can- not establish a perfect control; the heart can be made to stop or go on at his bidding, and, in the same way, each part of the organism can be made to work at his bidding. eababiniee Anh aisha tere cial? SE eee i } | i Sai anette an aie aoc eer Oe Lf eee eee f \ N\ Ts yy, Ba adr Die Ea Eyre, PENS babes be Soe aos ery aes ‘ ES >THE FIRST STEPS. 19 The result of this part of Yoga is to make men live . long; health is the chief idea, the one goal of the Hatha Vogt. He is determined not to fall sick, and he never does. He lives long; a hundred years is noth- ing to him; he is quite young and fresh when he is 150, without one hair turned grey. But that is all. A Ban- yan tree lives sometimes 5000 years, but it is a Banyan tree and nothing more. So, if a man lives long, he is only a healthy animal. One or two ordinary lessons of the Hatha Yogis are very useful. For instance, some of you will find it a good thing for headaches to drink cold water through the nose as soon as you get up; the whole day your brain will be nice and cool, and you will never catch cold. It is very easy to do; put your nose into the water, and make a pump action in the throat. After one has learned to have a firm erect seat, he has to perform, according to certain schools, a prac- tice called the purifying of the nerves. -__This part has been rejected by some as not belonging to Raa Yoga, but as so great an authority as the commentator, Sankardéchérya, advises it, I think it fit that it should be mentioned, and I will quote his own directions from his commentary to the Svetésvatara Upanifad. “’ The mind whose dross has been cleared away by Prdnd- yéma, becomes fixed in Brahman; therefore Préndydma is pointed out. First the nerves are to be purified, then comes the power to practise Prdzdydma. Stop- ping the right nostril with the thumb, with the left nostril fill in air, according to one’s capacity; then, . =]leet sh me ate 20 RAJA YOGA. without any interval, throw the air out through the right nostril, closing the left one. Again inhaling through the right nostril eject through the left, accord- ing to capacity; practising this three or five times at four intervals of the day, before dawn, during midday, in the evening, and at midnight, in fifteen days or a month purity of the nerves is attained; then begins Préndyéma.’’ Practice is absolutely necessary. You may sit down and listen to me by the hour every day, but, if you do not practise, you will not get one step further. It all depends on practice. We never understand these things until we experience them. We will have to see and feel them for ourselves. Simply listening to explanations and theories will not do. There are © several obstructions to practice. The first obstruction ’ is an unhealthy body; if the body is not in a fit state, the practice will be obstructed. Therefore we have to keep the body in good health; we have to take care of what we eat and drink, and what we do; always use a mental effort, what is usually called ‘‘ Christian Science,’’ to keep the body Strong. That is all; noth- ing further of the body. We must not forget that health is only a means to an end. If health were the end we would be like animals; animals rarely become unhealthy. ~The second obstruction is doubt; we always feel doubtful about things we do not see. Man cannot live upon words, however he may try. So, doubt comes to us as to whether there is any truth in these things or al. me wee . = a Foti tera cre) yee (isis eeaert a rn ral rece fa hg SEA ER TRASH La ea aL DNASE Es ebataRI Stel sian Usa lii =, —" pn te eee rel rT aaa 5 a \\\ \ Ne ne bee LIT Uo rus ewrierererr renTHE FIRST STEPS. 21 not; even the best of us will doubt sometimes. With practice, within a few days, a little glimpse will come, enough to give you encouragement and hope. As one commentator on Yoga philosophy says: ‘‘ When one proof is realised, however little it may be, that will give us faith in the whole teachings of Yoga.’’ For instance, after the first few months of training and teaching, you will begin to find you can read another's thoughts; they will come to you in picture form. Per- haps you will hear something happening at a long dis- tance, when you concentrate your mind and try to do so. These glimpses will come, just a little bit at first, but enough to give you faith, and strength, and hope. For instance, if you concentrate your thoughts on the tip of your nose, in a few days you will begin to smell most beautiful fragrance, and that will be enough to show you that there are certain mental perceptions that can be made obvious without the contact of physi- cal objects. But we must always remember that these are only the means; the aim, and end, and goal, of all this training is liberation of the soul. Absolute con- trol of nature, and nothing short of it, must be the goal. We must be the masters, and not nature; neither body nor mind must be our master, and neither must we forget that the body is mine, and not I the body’s. A god and ademon went to learn about the Self from a great sage. They studied with him for a long time, and at last the sage told them, ‘‘ Thou thyself art the being thouart seeking.’’ Both of them thought 4 | i 9 cay| LE ge ee * ARRAN ASL DERRRAUN EEE MIAN ie uae eR eT , ; 1 I eer - Foe ais a eee oe ener ah a Se re ers en Tie Tr. tet Dees cet oad perce i \ Ay iy hea TO remmemrycrescs “ee I 22 RAJA YOGA. that their bodies were the Self. ‘‘ We have got every: thing,’’ they said, and both of them returned to their people and said, ‘‘ We have learned everything that is to be learned; eat, drink, and be merry; we are the Self; there is nothing beyond us.’’ The nature of the demon was ignorant, clouded, so he never inquired any further, but was perfectly satisfied with the idea that he was God, that by the Self was meant the body. But the god hada purernature. He at first committed the mistake of thinking, ‘‘I, this body, am Brahman, so keep it strong and in health, and well-dressed, and give it all sorts of bodily enjoyments.’’ But, in a few days, he found out that this could not be the meaning of the sage, their master; there must be something higher. So he came back and said, ‘‘ Sir, did you teach me that this body is the Self? If so, I see all bodies die; the Self cannot die.’’ The sage said, ‘ Find it out; thouart That.’’ Then the god thought that the vital forces which work the body were what the sage meant. But, after a time, he found that if he ate, these vital forces remained strong, but, if he starved, they became weak. The god then went back to the sage and said, ‘‘ Sir, do you mean that the vital forces are the Self ?’’ The sage said, ‘‘ Find out for yourself; thou art That.’’ The god returned once more, and thought that it was the mind; perhaps that is the Self. But in a few days he reflected that thoughts . are sO various; now good, now bad; the mind is too changeable to be the Self. He went back to the sage and said, ‘‘ Sir, I do not think that the mind is theTHE FIRST STEPS. 23 Self; did you mean that ?’’ ‘‘ No,’’ replied the sage, ‘thou art That; find out for yourself.’’ The god went back, and, at last, found that he was the Self, beyond all thought; One, without birth or death, whom the sword cannot pierce, or the fire burn, whom the air cannot dry, or the water melt, the beginning- less and birthless, the immovable, the intangible, the omniscient, the omnipotent Being, and that it was neither the body nor the mind, but beyond them all. So he was satisfied, but the poor demon did not get the truth, owing to his fondness for the body. This world has a good many of these demoniac natures, but there are some gods too. If one propose to teach any science to increase the power of sense enjoyment, he finds multitudes ready for it. If one undertake to show mankind the supreme goal, they care nothing forthat. Very few have the power to grasp the highest, fewer still the patience to attain to it, but a few also know that if the body be kept for a thousand years the result will be the same in the end. When the forces that hold it together go away the body must fall. No man was ever born who could stop his body one moment from changing. Body is the name of a series of changes. ‘‘As in a river the masses of water are changing before you every moment, and new masses are coming, yet taking similar form, so is it with this body.’’ Yet the body must be kept strong and healthy; it is the best instrument we have. This human body is the greatest body in the universe, and a human being the greatest being. Man is higher ota annie abi hein OMe Rta Lei ite HS BHR eedinieran fe ibs tbe SE Soceererre GCS ae tert eae aint ener ee eee ee - ised hee POT ay - 24 RAJA YOGA. than all animals, than all angels; none is greater than man. Even the Devas will have to come down again and attain to salvation through a human body. Man alone attains to perfection, not even the devas. Accord- ing to the Jews and Mohammedans God created man after creating the angels and everything else, and after creating man He asked the angels to come and salute him, and all did except Iblis; so God cursed him and he became Satan. Behind this allegory is the great truth, that this human birth is the greatest birth we can have. The lower creation, the animal, is dull, and manufactured mostly out of Zamas. Animals cannot have any high thoughts; nor can the angels, or Devas, attain to direct freedom without human birth. In human society, in the same way, too much wealth, or too much poverty, is a great impediment to the higher development of the soul. It is from the middle classes that the great ones of the world come. Here the forces are very equally adjusted and balanced. ~ Returning to our subject, we come next to Prénéydma, controlling the breathing. What has that to do with concentrating the powers of the mind? Breath is like the fly-wheel of this machine. Ina big engine you find the fly-wheel first moving, and that motion is conveyed to finer and finer machinery, until the most delicate and finest mechanism in the machine is in motion in accord- ance. This breath is that fly-wheel, supplying and regulating the motive power to everything in this body. There was once a minister to a great king. He fell into disgrace, and the king as a punishment, orderedTHE. FIRST. STEPS. 25 him to be shut up in the top of a very high tower. This was done, and the minister was left there to perish. He had a faithful wife, however, and at night she came to the tower and called to her husband at the top to know what she could do to help him. He told her to return to the tower the following night and bring with her a long rope, a stout twine, a pack thread, a silken thread, a beetle, and a little honey. Wondering much, the good wife obeyed her husband, and brought him the desired articles. The husband directed her to attach the silken thread firmly to the beetle, then to smear his horns with a drop of honey, and to set him free on the wall of the tower, with his head pointing upwards. She obeyed all these instructions, and the beetle started on his long journey. Smelling the honey before him he slowly crept onwards and onwards, in the hope of reaching it, until at last he reached the top of the tower, when the minister grasped the beetle, and got possession of the silken thread. He told his wife to tie the other end to the pack thread, and after he had drawn up the pack thread, he repeated the pro- cess with the stout twine, and lastly with the rope. Then the rest was easy. The minister descended from the tower by means of the rope, and made his escape. In this body of ours the breath motion is the ‘‘silken thread,’’ and laying hold of that, and learning to control it we grasp the pack thread of the nerve currents, and from these the stout twine of our thoughts, and lastly the rope of Prdna, controlling which we reach freedom. We do not know anything about our own bodies; ’ r AN | oe oe e| Ey ee x | er |Shieh Rte rene ie aa nee CM naa arin It) AMS Tn ss oontetaee a , re Sibi a eee eee ee CC net et tert a eee died yee pT aya . \ \% pa aa tareed 26 RAJA YOGA. we cannot know. At best we can take a dead body, and cut it in pieces, and there are some who can take a live animal and cut it in pieces in order to see what is inside the body. Still, that has nothing to do with our own bodies. We know very little about them; why do we not? Because our attention is not discrimina- ting enough to catch the very fine movements that are going on within. We can know of-themr only as the mind, as it were, enters the body, and becomes more subtle. To get that subtle perception we have to begin with the grosser perceptions, so we have to get hold of that which is setting the whole engine in motion, and that is the Prdna, the most obvious manifestation of which is the breath. Then, along with the breath, we will slowly enter the body, and that will enable us to find out about the subtle forces, how the nerve currents are moving all over the body, and as soon as we per- ceive that, and learn to feel them, we shall begin to get ~control over them, and over the body. The mind is also set in motion by these different nerve currents, so, at last, we shall reach the state when we have perfect control over the body and mind, making both our serv- ants. Knowledge is power, and we have to get this power, so we must begin at the beginning, the Prdnd- jyamé restraining the Prdza. This Préudyéma is a long subject, and will take several lessons to illustrate it thoroughly. We will take it part by part. We shall gradually see what are the reasons for each exercise and what forces in the body are set in motion. All these things will come to us, but it requires con- ¥, rrr oar ree mm emergeTHE FIRST STEPS. 2) stant practice, and the proof will come by practice. No amount of reasoning which I can give you will be proof to you, until you have demostrated it for your selves. As soon as you begin to feel these currents in motion all over you, doubts will vanish, but it requires hard practice every day. You must practise at least twice every day, and the best times are towards the morning and the evening. When night passes into day, and day into night, it has to pass through a state of relative calmness. The early morning and the early evening are the two points of calmness. Your body will havea like tendency to become calm at those times. We will take advantage of that natural condition, and begin then to practise. Make it a rule not to eat until you have practised; if you do this the sheer force of hunger will break your laziness. In India they teach children never to eat until they have practised, and worshipped, and it becomes natural to them after a time; a boy will not feel hungry until he has bathed and practised. Those of you who can afford it will do better to have a room for this practice alone; do not sleep in that room, it must be kept holy; you must not enter the room until you have bathed, and are perfectly clean in body and mind. Place flowers in that room always; they are the best surroundings for a Yogi; also pictures that are pleasing. Burn incense morning and evening. Have no quarrelling, or anger, or unholy thought in that room. Only allow those persons to enter who are of the same thought as you. Then by and by there will * i 8 a =| ay oe]a Dna se eer ea TT area i ache Teas GPa Lenn ee oe neigh omen ATR fap BSR OR PST asa \ ‘i a he OOo sreere errno phe loeh oe ope eye) arena telalalerel erat pana pee RIS eH 28 RAJA YOGA. be an atmosphere of holiness in the room, and whey you are miserable, sorrowful, doubtful, er your mind is disturbed, the very fact of entering that room will make you calmer. This was the idea of the temple and the church, and in some temples and churches you will find it even now, but in the majority of them the very idea has been lost. The idea is that by keeping holy vibrations there the place becomes and remains illumined. Those who cannot afford to have a room set apart can practise anywhere they like. Sit ina Straight posture, and the first thing to do is to send a current of holy thought to all creation; mentally repeat: “‘ Let all beings be happy; let all beings be peaceful; let all beings be blissful.’’ So do to the East, South, North and West. The more you do that the better you will feel yourself. You will find at last that the easiest way to make yourselves healthy is to see that others are healthy, and the easiest way to make yourselves happy is to see that others are happy. After doing that, those who believe in God should pray —not for money, not for health, nor for heaven; pray for knowledge and light; every other prayer is selfish. Then the next thing to do is to think of your own body, and see that it is strong and healthy; it is the best instrument you have. Think of it as being as strong as adamant, and that with the help of this body you will cross this ocean of life. Freedom is never to be reached by the weak; throw away all weakness; tell your body that it is strong; tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself, aCHAPTER: Tih PRANA. PRANAYAMA is not, as many think, something about the breath; breath, indeed, has very little to do with it, if anything. Breathing is only one of the many exercises through which we get to the real Prdéudydma. Prindyima means the control of Préna. According to the philosophers of India, the whole universe is com- posed of two materials, one of which they call 4késa. It is the omnipresent, all penetrating existence. Every- thing that has form, everything that is the result of compounds, is evolved out of this 4ééfa. It is the Akésa that becomes the air, that becomes the liquids, that becomes the solids; it is the 44ésa that becomes the sun, the earth, the moon, the stars, the comets; it is the 4kéfa that becomes the body, the animal body, the plants, every form that we see, everything that can be sensed, everything that exists. It itself cannot be perceived; it is so subtle that it is beyond all ordinary perception; it can only be seen when it has become gross, has taken form. At the beginning of creation there is only this 4£éfa; at the end of the cycle the solids, the liquids, and the gases all melt into the 44éSa again, and the next creation similarly proceeds out of this Adda. [29]— ———— mo - satis fettne shbebioeesetbaa shee aehae anand eeeeeamanTbdAbiber ee erat mintuteenteae Ue aT TIA uit. corer eee Pere botie LonaLascers] ST i TT Come) ore oer eC ae ene 00 ~ med 30 RAJA YOGA. By what power is this 444éfa manufactured into this universe? By the power of Préza. Just as Akdsa is the infinite omnipresent material of this universe, so is this Prdya the infinite, omnipresent manifesting power of this universe. At the beginning and at the end of a cycle everything becomes Afésfa, and all the forces that are in the universe resolve back into the Prdza; in the next cycle, out of this Préza is evolved every- thing that we call energy, everything that we call force. It is the Préza that is manifesting as motion; it is the Préna that is manifesting as gravitation, as magnetism. It is the Pvdéza that is manifesting as the actions of the body, as the nerve currents, as thought force. From thought, down to the lowest physical force, everything is but the manifestation of Prdénza. The sum-total of all force in the universe, mental or physical, when resolved back to its original state, is called Préza. ‘“When there was neither aught nor naught, when darkness was covering darkness, what existed then? That Akésa existed without motion.’”? The physical motion of the Prdéza was stopped, but it existed all the same. All the energies that are now displayed in the universe we know, by modern science, are unchange- able. The sum-total of the energies in the universe remains the same throughout, only, at the end of a cycle, these energies quiet down, become potential, and, at the beginning of the next cycle, they start up, strike upon the Azésfa, and out of the Akésa evolve these various forms, and, as the Axésa changes, this Préna changes also into all these manifestations ofPRANA. 31 energy. The knowledge and control of this Préna is really what is meant by Prdudydma. This opens to us the door to almost unlimited power. Suppose, for instance, one understood the Prdna per- fectly, and could control it, what power on earth could there be that would not be his? He would be able to move the sun and stars out of their places, to control everything in the universe, from the atoms to the big- gest suns, because he would control the Préna. This is the end and aim of Prdéndyéma. When the Yogt becomes perfect there will be nothing in nature not under his control. If he orders the gods to come, they will come at his bidding; if he asks the departed to come, they will come at his bidding. All the forces of nature will obey him as his slaves, and when the ignorant see these powers of the Yog? they call them miracles. One peculiarity of the Hinda mind is that it always inquires for the last possible generalisation, leaving the details to be worked out afterwards. The question is raised in the Vedas, ‘‘ What is that, knowing which we shall know everything?’’ Thus, all books, and all philosophies that have been written, have been only to prove Zhat by knowing which everything is known. If a man wants to know this universe bit by bit he must know every individual grain of sand, and that means infinite time for him; he cannot know all of them. Then how can knowledge be? How is it possible for a man to be all-knowing through particu- lars? The Yog#s say that behind this particular mani- festation there isa generalisation. Behind all particularpeel i herbie te eek) a en ores — < — . = — _ - = - sin chimera cain a aeeeenaceicsichc ee ne ee pabdbestbttentaroa dhs is ssnbemenen dure ef 32 RAJA YOGA, ideas stands a generalised, an abstract principle; grasp it, and you have grasped everything. Just as this whole universe has been generalised, in the Vedas, into that One Absolute Existence. He who has grasped that Existence has grasped the whole universe. So all forces have been generalised into this Préna, and he who has grasped the Préna has grasped all the forces of the universe, mental or physical. He who has con- trolled the Prdéza has controlled his own mind, and all the minds that exist. He who has controlled the Préna has controlled his body, and all the bodies that exist, because the Pda is the generalised manifesta- tion of force. How to control the Préza is the one idea of Préné- yéma, All these trainings and exercises are for that one end, and each man must begin where he stands, must fearn how to control the things that are nearest to him. This body is the nearest thing to us, nearer than anything in the universe, and this mind is the nearest of all. The Préza which is working this mind and body is the nearest to us of all the Préza in the universe. This little wave of the Prdéza which repre- sents Our Own energies, mental and physical, is the nearest wave to us of all that infinite ocean of Préna, and if we can succeed in controlling that little wave, then alone we can hope to control the whole of Préna. Perfection is to be gained by the Yogi who has done this, and no power is any more his master. He has become almost almighty, almost all-knowing. We See sects in every country who have attempted thisPRANA. 33 control of Prdza. In this country there are Mind- healers, Faith-healers, Spiritualists, Christian Scien- tists, Hypnotists, ctc., and if we analyse these different groups we shall find that the background of each is this control of the /vdna, whether they know it or not. If you boil all their theories down the residuum will be the same. It is the one and same force they are man- ipulating, only unknowingly. They have stumbled on the discovery of a force, and do not know its nature, but they are unconsciously using the same powers which the Yogi uses, and which come from Préna. This Prdua is the vital force in every being, and the, 7 finest and highest action of Prdza is thought. This thought, again, as we see, is not all. There is also a sort of thought which we call instinct, or unconscious thought, the lowest plane of action. If a mosquito stings us, without thinking, our hand will strike it, automatically, instinctively. This is one expression of thought. All reflex actions of the body belong to this plane of thought. There is then a still higher plane of thought, the conscious. I reason, I judge, I think, I see the gros and cons of certain things; yet that is not all. We know that reason is limited. There is onlya certain extent to which reason can go; beyond that it cannot reach. The circle within which it runs is very, very limited indeed. Yet, at the same time, we find facts rush into this circle. Like the coming of comets certain things are coming into this circle, and it is cer- tain they come from outside the limit, although our reason cannot go beyond. The causes of the phe- 9 Pe a ES eI |. os m bike balan hie isn et TLE Sete eeere eect —_———— — - : ane indeed aOR ed tantonencaaAannineeatae ulnar NN aca coat : 34 RAJA YOGA. nomena protruding themselves in this small limit are outside of this limit. The reason and the intellect cannot reach them, but, says the Vog?, that is not all. The mind can exist ora still higher plane, the super- conscious. When the mind has attained to that state, which is called Samédhi,— perfect concentration, super- consciousness —it goes beyond the limits of reason, and comes face to face with facts which no instinct or reason can ever know. All these manipulations of the subtle forces of the body, the different manifestations of Prdua, if trained, give a push to the mind, and the mind goes up higher, and becomes super-conscious, and from that plane it acts. In this universe there is one continuous mass on every plane of existence. Physically this universe is one; there is no difference between the sun and you. The scientist will tell you it is only a fiction to say the contrary. There is no real difference between the table and me; the table is one point in the mass of matter, and I another point. Each form represents, as it were, one whirlpool in the infinite ocean of mat- ter, and these are not constant. Just as in a rushing stream there may be millions of whirlpools, and the water in each of these whirlpools is fresh every moment, turning round and round for a few seconds, and then passing out at the other end, and fresh par: ticles of water coming in, so this whole universe is one constantly changing mass of matter, in which we are little whirlpools. A mass of matter enters them, goes round and round, and turns, for a few years, into thePIANA. body of a man, becomes changed, and gets whirled out in the form of, maybe, an animal, from that it rushes round to get, after a few years, into another whirlpool, called a lump of mineral. It» is a constant change. Not one body is constant. There is no such thing as my body, or your body, except in words. It is one huge mass of matter. One point is called moon, another sun, another a man, another the earth, another a plant, another a mineral. Not one is constant, but everything is changing, matter eternally concreting and disintregating. Soit is with the mind. Matter is represented by the ether; when the action of Prdéua is most subtle, this very ether, in the finer state of vibra- tion, will represent the mind, and there it will be still one unbroken mass. If you can get to simply that subtle vibration you will see and feel that the whole universe is composed of these subtle vibrations. Some- times certain drugs have the power to take us, as it were, through our senses, and bring us to that condi- tion. Many of you may remember the celebrated experi- ment of Sir Humphrey Davy, when the laughing gas overpowered him, and, during the lecture, he remained motionless, stupefied, and, after that, he said that the whole universe was made up of ideas; for the time being, as it were, the gross vibrations had ceased, and only the subtle vibrations, which he called the mind, were present to him. He could only see the subtle vibrations round him; everything had become thought; the whole universe was an ocean of thought, he ana everyone else had become little thought whirlpools. q|pilbuirndaidtban tach nr shi dis tncbemenpecuan ai dinates inisaaslLc ROY FS cary! (tics eee Esta ead ae ~ " Pr soe nls AaB SIL ee oe mgt OI Ss RIA ates baie oa oats te a . a we 36 RAJA YOGA. Thus, even in the universe of thought we find this unity, and at last, when we get to the Self, we know that that Self can only be One. Beyond motion there is but One. Even in manifest motion there is only a unity. These facts can no more be denied, as modern science has demonstrated them. Modern physics also has demonstrated that the sum-total of the energies in the universe is the same throughout. It has also been proved that this sum-total of energy exists in two forms. It becomes potential, toned down, and calmed, and next it comes out manifested as all these various forces; again it goes back to the quiet state, and again it manifests. Thus it goes on evolving and involving through eternity. The control of this Prdza, as before stated, is what is called Prdzdydma. This Prdéndydéma has very little to do with breathing, except as exercise. The most obvious manifestation of this Prdéza in the human body is the motion of the lungs. If that stops, the body will stop; all the other manifestations of force in the body will immediately stop, if this is stopped. There are persons who can train themselves in such a manner that the body will live on, even when this motion has stopped. ‘There are some persons who can bury themselves for months and yet live, without breathing. But, for all ordinary persons, this is the principal gross motion in the body. To reach the more subtle we must take the help of the grosser, and so, slowly travel towards the most subtle, until we gain our point. The most obvious of all motions in the body is the motion of the lungs, the fly-PRANA. 37 wheel which is setting the other forces in motion. Préndydéma really means controlling this motion of the lungs, and this motion is associated with the breath. Not that breath is producing it; on the contrary #¢ is producing breath. This motion draws in the air by pump action. The /Préza is moving the lungs, and that motion of the lungs, draws in the air. So Prézd- yama is not breathing, but controlling that muscular power which moves the lungs, and that muscular power which is going out through the nerves to the muscles, from them to the lungs, making them move in a certain manner, is the Préza, which we have to control in the practice of Prézdyéma. When this Prdza has become controlled, then we shall immediately find that all the other actions of the Prdéuza in the body will slowly come under control. I myself have seen men who have con- trolled almost every muscle of the body; and why not ? If I have control over certain muscles, why not over every muscle and nerve of the body? What impossi- bility is there ? At present the control is lost, and the motion has become automatic. Wecannot move the ears at will, but we know that animals can. We have not that power because we do not exercise it. This is what is called atavism. Again, we know that motion which has become latent can be brought back to manifestation. By hard work and practice certain motions of the body which are most dormant can be brought back under perfect con- trol. Reasoning in that way we find there is no impossibility, but, on the other hand, every probability ao eM bea see ts can ttt apsidhildstianmbintnek Shik Riiabhldidaen) woke etree bench as banene od eereaiinain GULL nas dus Lasuacomatentd PS ae at ofan appa ay alacant pester erent re Sere Cera berl Des eerie totem (11 ane 38 RAJA YOGA. that each part of the body can be brought under per. fect control. This the Yog¢ does through Préndydéma. Perhaps some of you have read in these books that in Préndyéma, when drawing in the breath, you must fill your whole body with Préza. In the English transla- tions Préza is given as breath, and you are inclined to ask how that is to be done. The fault is with the translator. Every part of the body can be filled with Prdna, this vital force, and when you are able to do that, you can control the whole body. All the sick- ness and misery felt in the body will be perfectly con- trolled, and, not only so, you will be able to control another’s body. Everything is infectious in this world, good or bad. If your body be in a certain state of tension, it will have a tendency to produce the same tension in others. If you are strong and healthy, those that live near you will also have the tendency to be- come strong and healthy, but, if you are sick and weak, those around you will have the tendency to become the same. This vibration will be, as it were, conveyed to another body. In the case of one man trying to heal another, the first idea is simply transferring his own health to the other. This is the primitive sort of healing. Consciously, or unconsciously health can be transmitted. The very strong man, living with the weak man, will make him a little stronger, whether he knows it or not. When consciously done it becomes quicker and better in its action. Next come those cases in which a man may not be very healthy himself, yet we know that he can bring health to another. ThePRANA. 39 first man, in such a case, has a little more controi over the Prdéza, and can rouse, for the time being, his Prdza, as it were, to a certain state of vibration, and transmit it to another person. There have been cases where this process has been carried on at a distance, but in reality there is no dis- tance, in the sense of a break. Where is the distance that has a break ? Is there any break between you and the sun? It is a continuous mass of matter, the sun the one part, and you the other. Is there a break between one part of ariver and another? Then why cannot any force travel? There is no reason against it. These cases are perfectly true, and this Prdéuza can be transmitted to a very great distance; but to one genuine case, there are hundreds of frauds. It is not SO easy as it is thought to be. In the most ordinary cases of this healing you will find that these healers are simply taking advantage of the naturally healthy state of the human body. There is no disease in this world which kills the majority of persons attacked. Even in cholera epidemics, if for a few days sixty per cent. die, after that the rate comes down to thirty and twenty per cent, and the rest recover. An allopath comes and treats cholera patients, and gives them his medicines; the homceopath comes and gives his medi- cine, and cures perhaps more, simply because the homceopath did not disturb the patients, but allowed nature to deal with them; and the faith-healer will cure more still, because he will bring the strength ofere fel icishchicneshinh deta inieeeinieeatiriaiasiebeeasichuareeteestemsasranoe te shaininbtbbiei ines ceadhhh ns sies baie eaten BO a bere ki perenne sci (tcc. omennte nes cere hie ekats Lee. ee. (ee epee 40 RAJA YOGA, his mind to bear, and rouses, through faith, the der. mant Prdéna of the patient. But there is a mistake constantly made by faith- healers; they think that it is faith itself that directly heals aman. It alone will not cover all the ground. There are diseases where the worst symptoms are that the patient never thinks that he has that disease. That tremendous faith of the patient is itself one symptom of the disease, and usually indicates that he will die quickly. In such cases the principle that faith cures does not apply. If it were faith that cured in all these cases, these patients also would be cured. It is by this Prdéya that real curing comes. The pure man, who has controlled this Préza, has the power of bring- ing it into a certain state of vibration, which can be conveyed to others, arousing in them a similar vibra- tion. You see that in every-day actions. I am talk- ing to you. What am I trying todo? I am, so to say, bringing my mind to a certain state of vibration, and the more I succeed in bringing it to that State, the more you will be affected by what Isay. All of you know that the day I am more enthusiastic the more you enjoy the lecture, and when I am less enthusiastic you feel lack of interest. The gigantic will powers of the world, the world- movers, can bring their Préza into a high state of vibration, and it is so great and powerful that it catches others in a moment, and thousands are drawn towards them, and half the world thinks as they do. Great prophets of the world had the most wonderful control!PRANA. AI of this Prdua, which gave them tremendous will power; they had brought their Pvéza to the highest state of motion, and this is what gave them power to sway the world. Ali manifestations of power arise from this control. Men may not know the secret, but this is the one explanation. Sometimes in your own body the supply of Prdnza gravitates more or less to one part; the balance is disturbed, and when the balance of Préna is disturbed, what we call disease is produced. To take away the superfluous Prvéza, cr to supply the Préna that is wanting, will be curing the disease. That again is Prdézdéydma, to learn when there is more or less Préna in one part of the body than there should be. The feelings will become so subtle that the mind will feel that there is less Prdza in the toe or the finger than there should be, and possess the power to supply it. These are among the various functions of Prdyd- yéma. They have to be learned slowly and gradually, and, as you see, the whole scope of Rdja Yoga is really to teach the control and direction in different planes of the Prédva. Whenaman has concentrated his energies he masters the Prdéza that isin his body. Whena man is meditating, he is also concentrating the Prdza. In an ocean there are huge waves, like mountains, then smaller waves, and still smaller, down to little bubbles, but the background of all these is the infinite ocean. The bubble is connected with the infinite ocean at one end, and the huge wave at the other end. So, one may be a gigantic man, and another a little bubble, but each is connected with that infinite ocean ez a ? a a ,E 1 ae ~ Ai, = SS ini hihi has GReTL oa IS ee bd ee oe ee Se eka as ene ne ee eee iassrabantsbiehitiehereneniibabardbiininesr aia discoiasaieeee OL aibieseeebistite seri) Tustin commen <7 ss TT ee 42 RAJA YOGA. of energy, and this is the common birthright of every animal that exists. Wherever there is life, the store- house of infinite energy is behind it. Starting from some fungus, some very minute, microscopic bubble, and all the time drawing from that infinite storehouse of energy, the form is changed slowly and slowly, until, in course of time it becomes a plant, then an animal, then man, ultimately God. This is attained through millions of zons, but what is time? An increase of speed, an increase of struggle, is able to bridge the distance of time. That which naturally takes a long time to accomplish can be shortened by the intensity of the action, says the Vog#, Aman may go on slowly drawing in this energy from the infinite mass that exists in the universe, and perhaps he will require a hundred thousand years to become a Deva, and then, perhaps, five hundred thousand years to become still higher, and perhaps five millions of years to become perfect. Given rapid growth the time will be lessened. Why is it not possible, with sufficient effort, to reach this very perfection in six months or six years? There is no limit. Reason shows that. If an engine, with a cer- tain amount of coal, runs at two miles an hour, add more coal, and it will run in quickcr time. Similarly why shall not the soul, by intensifying its action, attain to that goal in this very life? All beings will at last attain to that perfection we know. But who cares to wait all these millions of zons? Why not reach it immediately, in this body even, in this human form ?PRANA. 43 Why shall I not get that infinite knowledge, infinite power now? That is the ideal of the Yog?; the whole science of Yoga is directed to that one end, to teach men how to shorten the time by adding power, how to intensify the power of assimilation, and thereby shorten the time for reaching perfection, instead of slowly advancing from point to point, and waiting until the whole human race has come out, and become perfect. All the great prophets, saints, and seers, of the world, what are they ? In that one span of life they lived the whole life of humanity, bridged the whole length of time that it will take ordinary humanity to come to the state of perfection. In this life they perfect themselves; they have no thought for anything else, breathe for nothing else, never live a moment for any other idea, and thus the way is shortened for them. This is what is meant by concentration, intensifying the action or assimila- tion, and thus shortening the time; and Réja Yoga is the science which teaches us how to gain the power of concentration. What has this Prézdéydma to do with spiritualism ? That is also a manifestation of Prdzdydma. If it be true that the departed spirits exist, only that we can- not see them, it is quite probable that there may be hundreds and millions living here that we can neither see, feel, nor touch. We may be continually passing and repassing through their bodies, and it is also pro- bable that they do not see or feel us. It is a circle within a circle, universe within universe. Those only " Ly ee Se el RATE ORR SEs On: PAN Windy ep RWa ree saison enninaineaienmed tetatiahaenaena cannes tit Hhinihisma abhor nhdbintnheianee smn Prater tsi. eterna rn phi bt skeet eres SUL Reoene - Peer tote oes toes hea ben rere. 111 eed A4 RAJA YOGA. that are on the same plane see each other, We have five senses, and we represent Préza ina certain state of vibration. All beings in the same state of vibration will see each other, but if there are beings who repre- sent Prdna ina higher state of vibration they will not be seen. We may increase the intensity of light until we cannot see the light at all, but there may be beings with eyes so powerful that they can see such light. Again, if the vibrations are very low, we do not see light, but there are animals that see it, as cats and owls. Our range of vision is only one plane of the vibrations of this Préya. Take this atmosphere, for instance; it is piled up layer on layer, but the layers nearer to the earth are denser than those above and as you go higher the atmosphere becomes finer and finer. Or take the case of the ocean; as you go deeper and deeper the density of the water increases, and those animals that live at the bottom of the sea can never come up, or they will be broken into pieces. Think of this whole universe as an ocean of ether, in vibration under the action of Prdéza, and that it con- sists of layer after layer of varying degrees of vibra- tion; in the more external the vibrations are less, and nearer to the centre the vibrations become quicker and quicker, and each range of vibration makes one plane. Think of the whole thing as one circle, the centre of which is perfection; the further you get from the centre the slower the vibrations. Matter is the outermost crust, next comes mind, and spirit isthe centre. Then suppose these ranges of vision are cut into planes, soPRANA. 45 many millions of miles one set of vibration, and then SO many millions of miles stil] higher, and so on. It is perfectly certain, then, that those who live on the plane of a certain state of vibration will have the power of recognising each other, but will not recognise those above or below them. Yet, just as by the telescope and the microscope we can increase the scope of our vision, and make higher or lower vibrations cognisable to us, similarly, every man can bring himself to the state of vibration belonging to the next plane, thus enabling himself to see what is going on there. Suppose this room were full of beings whom we do not see. They represent certain vibrations in the Prdéna, and we represent other vibrations. Sup- pose they represent the quicker, and we the slower. Préna is the material of which they are composed, also of which we are composed; all are parts of the same ocean of Prdza, only the rate of vibration differs. If I can bring myself to the quicker vibration this plane will immediately change for me; I shall not see you any more; you vanish, and they appear. Some of you, perhaps, know this to be true. All this bringing of the mind into a higher state of vibration is included in one word in Yoga— Samédhi. All these states of higher vibration, superconscious vibrations of the mind, are grouped in that one word, Samédhi, and the lower states of Samd@dhi give us visions of these beings. The highest grade of Samddhi is when we see the real thing, when we see the material out of which the whole of these grades of beings are composed, and that a | se | a ‘3 | a oor | 4 a Z flao 5 eae Ce ae tr ieeett tree es oT EeTel es er) i Gi bis (Fie tet ec veeere SUES Renin henc ain meee ri ciees oat y : : F aidcbtbten han batebERT ie TTT TET Resins trercecarsys RAJA YOGA. lump of clay being known, we know all the clay in the universe. Thus we see that this Préndydma includes all that is true of spiritualism even. Similarly, you will find that wherever any sect or body of people is trying to search out anything occult and mystical, or hidden, it is really this Yoga, this attempt to control the Prdmza. You will find that wherever there is any extraordinary dis. play of power it is the manifestation of this Prdza. Even the physical sciences can be included also in Prindyéma. What moves the steam engine? /Préna, acting through the steam. What are all these phe- nomena of electricity and so forth but Préza? What is physical science? Prdndyéma, by external means. Préna, manifesting itself as mental power, can only be | controlled by mental means. That part of the Prdnd- yéma which attempts to control the physical manifesta- tions of the Prdza by physical means is called physical science, and that part which tries to control the mani- festations of the Prdéza as mental force, by mental means, is called Ada Yoga,CHAPTER IV. THE PSYCHIC PRANA, ACCORDING to the Yog#s there are two nerve currents in the spinal column, called Pimga/é and /dé, and there is a hollow canal called Sw‘uwmnd running through the spinal cord. At the lower end of the hollow canal is what the Vogts call the ‘‘ Lotus of the Kugdalini.”’ They describe it as triangular in form, in which, in the symbolical language of the Yog?zs, there is a power called the Kundalini? coiled up. When that Kundalint awakes it tries to force a passage through this hollow canal, and, as it rises step by step, as it were, layer after layer of the mind becomes open, all these differ- ent visions and wonderful powers come to the Yagi. When it reaches the brain the Yog? is perfectly detached from the body and mind; the soul finds itself free. We know that the spinal cord is composed ina peculiar manner. If we take the figure eight horizontally (0 ) there are two parts, and these two parts are connected in the middle. Suppose you add eight after eight, piled one on top of the other, that will represent the spinal cord. The left is the /dé, and the right the Pingalé, and that hollow canal which runs through the centre of the spinal cord is the Swfumndé. Where the spinal cord ends in some of the lumbar vertebra, a fine [47] OD iS 2 f Mi p Q ‘ i—— a Fg eee een ee ED ent ete re eee ee eieeeeearuuunnmreb a ininams liar Lite ; pmeseiLidhis dd eb ee tobas besahae boise rind cis hc oa eb baeei sa a aiis Romer i bale, partes mst ad J oe 4 48 RAJA YOGA. fibre comes down, and the canal is even in that fibre, only much finer. The canal is closed at the lower end, which is situated near what is called the sacral plexus, which, according to modern physiology, is triangular inform, The different plexuses that have their cen- tres in the spinal cord can very well stand for the different “‘lotuses’’ of the Yog?. The Yogéconceives of several centres, beginning with the Alé/ddhdra, the basic, and ending with the Sahasrdéra, the thousand-petalled lotus in the brain. So, if we take these different plexuses as representing these circles, the idea of the Vog# can be understood very easily in the language of modern physiology. We know there are two sorts of actions in these nerve cur- rents, one afferent, the other efferent, one sensory and the other motor; one centripetal, and the other cen- trifugal. One carries the sensations to the brain, and the other from the brain to the outer body. These vibrations are all connected with the brain in the long run, Several other facts we have to remember, in order to clear the way for the explanation which is to come. ‘This spinal cord, at the brain, ends in a sort of bulb, in the medulla, which is not attached to the bone, but floats in a fluid in the brain, so that if there be a blow on the head the force of that blow will be dissipated in the fluid, and will not hurt the bulb. This will be an important fact as we go on. Secondly, we have also to know that, of all the centres, we have particularly to remember three, the M/“/édhéra (the basic), the Sehasréra (the thousand- petalled lotus ofTHE PSYCHIC PRANA. 49 the brain) and the Svddhifthdéna (next above the Md/dd- hdéra). Next we will take one fact from physics. We all hear of electricity, and various other forces con- nected with it. What electricity is no one knows, but, so far as it is known, it is a sort of motion. There are various other motions in the universe; what is the difference between them and electricity ? Suppose this table moves, that the molecules which compose this table are moving in different directions; if they are all made to move in the same direction it will be electricity. Electric motion is when the mole- cules all move in the same direction. If all the air molecules in a’ room are made to move in the same direction it will make a gigantic battery of electricity of the room. Another point from physiology we must remember, that the centre which regulates the respira- tory system, the breathing system, has a sort of cons trolling action over the system of nerve currents, and the controlling centre of the respiratory system is opposite the thorax, in the spinal column. This centre regulates the respiratory organs, and also exercises some control over the secondary centres. Now we shall see why breathing is practised. In the first place, from rhythmical breathing will come a tendency of all the molecules in the body to have the same direction. When mind changes into will, the currents change into a motion similar to electricity, because the nerves have been proved to show polarity under action of electric currents. This shows that when the will evolves into the nerve currents it is 4tt -- of " . ee rea ert eet ttn an SUM ESSe LMM MCL Lito oe Werte oc tereti tee rers it —————— Pei Gr eRe et errr Mra Ga Doel oe ee er es Saati alee ee Lr 50 RAJA YOGA. changed into something like electricity. When all the motions of the body have become perfectly rhythmical the body has, as it were, become a gigantic battery of will. This tremendous will is exactly what the Yog# wants. This is, therefore, a physiological explanation of the breathing exercise. It tends to bring a rhyth- mic action in the body, and helps us, through the respiratory centre, to control the other centres. The aim of Prdéndyéma here is to rouse the coiled-up power in the Mélédhéra, called the Kundalini. Everything that we see, or imagine, or dream, we have to perceive in space. This is the ordinary space, called the Mahékéfa, or great space. When a VYog# reads the thoughts of other men, or perceives super- sensuous objects, he sees them in another sort of space called the C/zt#ékdsa, the mental space. When percep- tion has become objectless, and the soul shines in its own nature, it is called the Ciidékéfa, or knowledge space. When the Xuzdalini is aroused, and enters the canal of the Suvfumnd all the perceptions are in the mental space. When it has reached that end of the canal which opens out into the brain, the objectless perception is in the knowledge space. Taking the analogy of electricity, we find that man can send a current only along a wire, but nature requires no wires to send her tremendous currents. This proves that the wire is not really necessary, but that only our in- ability to dispense with it compels us to use it. Similarly, all the sensations and motions of the body are being sent into the brain, and sent out of it, throughTHE PSYCHIC PRANA. 51 these wires of nerve fibres. The columns of sensory and motor fibres in the spinal cord are the /dé and Pingalé of the Yogis. They are the main channels through which the afferent and efferent currents are travelling. But why should not the mind send the news without any wire, or react without any wires? We see that this is being done in nature. The Yog? says if you can do that you have got rid of the bond- age of matter. Howto do it? If you can make the current pass through the Swsumnd, the canal in the middle of the spinal column, you have solved the prob- lem. The mind has made this net-work of the nervous system, and has to break it, so that no wires will be required to work through. Then alone will all knowl- edge come to us—no more bondage of body; that is why it is so important that you should get control of that Susumnd. If you can send the mental current through that hollow canal without any nerve fibres to act as wires, the Yog/ says you have solved the prob- lem, and he also says it can be done. This Sufumnd is, in ordinary persons, closed up at the lower extremity; no action comes through it. The Yogi proposes a practice by which it can be opened, and the nerve currents made totravel through. When a sensation is carried to a centre, the centre reacts. This reaction, in the case of automatic centres, is fol- lowed by motion; in the case of conscious centres it is followed first by perception, and secondly by motion. All perception is the reaction to action from outside. How, then, do perceptions in dreams arise? There isPTA Ry 1) _— fle Hf ae ene tert OTe ii. ame nmr TO LT Perret emere ies oo Der es se Ba ieee alas en Laren as > A ~~ te aR ees Te eee aie rena sit a tis bi a ae $2 RAJA YOGA. then no action from outside. The sensory motions, therefore, are coiled up somewhere, just as the motor motions are known to be in different centres. For instance, I see a city; the perception of that city was from the reaction to the sensations brought from out- side objects comprising that city. That is to say, a certain motion in the brain molecules has been set up by the motion in the incarrying nerves, which again were set in motion by external objects in the city. Now, even after a long time I can remember the city. This memory is exactly the same phenomenon, only it isin a milder form. But whence is the action that set up even the milder form of similar vibrations in the brain. Not certainly from the primary sensations. Therefore it must be that the sensations are coiled up somewhere, and they, by their acting, bring out the mild reaction which we call dream perception. Now the centre where all these residual sensations are, as it were, stored up, is called the M/é/édhéra, the root recep- tacle, and the coiled up energy of action is Kundalint, the “‘ coiled up.’”’ It is very probable that the residual motor energy is also stored up in the same centre as, after deep study or meditation on external objects, the part of the body where the Ald/édhdra centre is situ- ated (probably the sacral plexus) gets heated. Now, if this coiled-up energy be roused and made active, and then consciously made to travel up the Susumnd canal, as it acts upon centre after centre, a tremendous reac- tion will set in. When a minute portion of the energy of action travels along a nerve fibre and causes reactionTHE PSYCHIC PRANA. 53 from centres, the perception is either dream or imagi- nation. But when the vast mass of this energy stored up by the power of long internal meditation travels along the Susumnd, and strikes the centres, the reac- tion is tremendous, immensely superior to the reaction of dream or imagination, immensely more intense than the reaction of sense perception. It is super-sensuous perception, and the mind in that state is called super- conscious. And when it reaches the metropolis of all sensations, the brain, the whole brain, as it were, reacts, and every perceiving molecule in the body, as it were, reacts, and the result is the full blaze of illu- mination, the perception of the Self. As this Kugdalini force travels from centre to centre, layer after layer of the mind, as it were, will be opened up, and this uni verse will be perceived by the Yog? in its fine, or coarse, form. Then alone the causes of this universe, both as sensation and reaction, will be known as they are, and hence will come all knowledge. The causes being known, the knowledge of the effects is sure to follow. Thus the rousing of the Kundalini is the one and only way to attaining Divine Wisdom, and super-con- scious perception, the realisation of the spirit. It may come in various ways, through love for God, through the mercy of perfected sages, or through the power of the analytic will of the philosopher. Wherever there is any manifestation of what is ordinarily called super- natural power or wisdom, there must have been a little current of Kundalini which found its way into the Susumné. Only, in the vast majority of such cases ofa ra terior rere rac TL ABR esniaiucmansg ; Pp en nen RRMA Wr rese Pte cs ntsc ere) CO tae oe epee SFA rp Ae REET as ea _. 2oeghht E i 54 RAJA YOGA. super-naturalism, they had ignorantly stumbled on to some practice which set free a minute portion of the coiled-up wuydalini. All worship, consciously or unconsciously, leads to this end. The man who thinks that he is receiving responses to his prayers does not know that the fulfilment came only from his own nature, that he has succeeded by the mental attitude of prayer in waking up a bit of this infinite power which is coiled up within himself. Whom, thus, men ignorantly worship under various names, through fear and tribulation, the Yog/ declares to the world to be the real power coiled up in every being, the mother of eter- nal happiness, if we know how to approach her. And Rdja Yoga is the science of religion, the rationale of all worship, all prayers, forms, ceremonies, and miracles.CHAPTER V., THE CONTROL OF PSYCHIC PRANA, WE have now to deal with the exercises in Prénd- ydma. We have seen that the first step will be, accord- ing to the Vogzs, to control the motion of the lungs. What we want to do is to feel the finer motions that are going on in the body. Our minds have become externalised, and have lost sight of the fine motions inside. If we can begin to feel them, we can begin to control them. These nerve currents are going on all over the body, bringing life and vitality to every muscle, but we donot feelthem. The Yog7 says we can learn to doso. How? By taking up and controlling all these motions of the Prdza beginning with the motion of the lungs, and when we have done that for a sufficient length of time we shall also be able to control the finer motions. We now come to the exercises in Préndyéma. Sit upright; the body must be kept straight. The spinal cord, although it is inside the vertebral column, is not attached to it. If you sit crookedly you disturb this spinal cord, so let it be free. Any time that you sit crookedly and try to meditate you are doing yourself an injury. The three parts of the body must be always held straight, the chest, the neck, and the head, in one [55] RRC snomennsmnn mnomncnn RE Pear att SO See's ’ JRee Ea Lenem none 2 Ae A pe Fa en TA eee un be es SL PereT eat O26, a eran ee Sent tn oer = Ne eee eer ren Tienes na eer ne reer aati lit} ait RAJA YOGA. line. You will find that by a little practice this will come to you just as breathing. The second thing is to get control of the nerves. We have seen that the nerve centre that controls the respiratory organs, has a sort of controlling effect on the other nerves, and rhythmical breathing is therefore necessary. The breathing that we generally use should not be called breathing at all. It is very irregular. Then there are some natural differences of breathing between men and women. The first lesson is just to breathe in a measured way, in and out. That will harmonise the system. When you have practised this for some time you will do well to join the repetition of some word to it, as ‘* Om,’’ or any other sacred word, and let the word flow in and out with the breath, rhythmically, harmoniously, and you will find the whole body is becoming rhythmical. Then you will learn what rest is. Sleep is not rest, comparatively. Once this rest has come the most tired nerves will be calmed down, and you will find that you have never before really rested. In India we use certain symbolical words instead of counting one, two, three, four. That is why I advise you to join the mental repetition of the ‘‘ Om,’’ or other sacred word to the Prdéndydma. The first effect of this practice will be that the face will change; harsh lines will disappear; with this calm thought calmness will come over the face. Next, beautiful voice will come. Inever sawa Yogi witha croaking voice. These signs will come after a fewTHE CONTROL OF PSYCHIC PRANA. 57 months’ practice. After practising this first breathing for a few days, you take up a higher one. Slowly fill the Jungs with breath through the /dé, the left nostril, and at the same time concentrate the mind on the nerve current. You are, as it were, sending the nerve current down the spinal column, and striking violentiy on that last plexus, the basic lotus, which is triangular in form, the seat of the Kundalini. Then hold the current there for some time. Imagine that you are slowly drawing that nerve current with the breath through the other side, then slowly throw it out through the right nostril. This you will find a little difficult to practise. The easiest way is to stop the right nostril with the thumb, and then slowly draw in the breath through the left; then close both nostrils with thumb and forefinger, and imagine that you are sending that current down, and striking the base of the Susumndé; then take the thumb off, and let the breath out through the right nostril. Next inhale slowly through that nostril, keeping the other closed by the forefinger, then close both, as before. The way the Hindfis practise this would be very difficult for this country, because they do it from their childhood, and their lungs are prepared for it. Here it is well to begin with four seconds, and slowly increase. Draw in four seconds, hold in sixteen seconds, then throw out in eight seconds. This makes one Préudyéma. At the same time think of the triangle, concentrate the mind on that centre. The imagination can help you a great deal. The next breathing is slowly drawing the breath in, and tr eed ity eee esaSika in Ep; te ee ern tt tee rae abetted ork is ibdeteee et LL Mb be ietteed elit ICL HALA Aerie dissing abi Do ee reer erc these gif (Vier een co eas RAJA YOGA. then immediately throwing it out slowly, and then stop: ping the breath out, using the same numbers. The only difference is that in the first case the breath was held in, and in the second, held out. The last is the easier one. The breathing in which you hold the breath in the lungs must not be practised too much. Do it only four times in the morning, and four times in the evening. Then you can slowly increase the time and number. You will find that you have the power to do so, and that you take pleasure in it. So, very carefully and cautiously increase as you feel that you have the power, to six instead of four. It may injure you if you practise it irregularly. Of the three processes, the purification of the nerves, the retaining the breath inside and the keeping the breath outside, the first and the last are neither diffi- cult nor dangerous. The more you practise the first one the calmer you will be. Just think of ‘‘Om,’’ and you can practise even while you are sitting at your work. You will be all the better for it. One day, if you practise hard the Kundalini will be aroused. For those who practise once or twice a day, just a little calmness of the body and mind will come, and beauti- ful voice; only for those who can go on further with it will this Awzdalini be aroused, and the whole of this nature will begin to change, and the book of knowledge will be open. No more will you need to go to books for knowledge; your own mind will have become your book, containing infinite knowledge. I have already spoken of the /¢é and Pinga/é currents, flowing throughTHE CONTROL OF PSYCHIC PRANA. 59 either side of the spinal column, also of the Susumnd, the passage through the centre of the spinal cord. These three are present in every animal; whatever has a spinal column has these three lines of action, but the Yogis claim that in ordinary mankind the Susumnd is closed, that action there is not evident, while in the other two it is evident, carrying power to different parts of the body. The Yog# alone has the Sufumnd open. When this Susumnd current opens, and thought begins to rise through it, we get beyond the senses, our minds become supersensuous, superconscious, we get beyond even the intellect, and where reasoning cannot reach. To open that SwSumnd is the prime object of the Vog?. According to him, along this Suswmnd are ranged these centres of distribution, or, in more figurative language, these lotuses, as they are called. The lowest one is at the lowest end of the spinal cord, and is called J/7@/é- dhéra, the next one is called Suddhisthéna, the next Manipira, the next Andhata, the next Vrfuddha, the next Ajna, and the last, which is in the brain, is the Sahasréra, or ‘‘the thousand petalled.’’ Of these we have to take cognition just now of only two centres, the lowest, the Md@/édhéra, and the highest, the Sahas- r@ra. The lowest one is where all energy becomes stored up, and that energy has to be taken up from there and brought to the last one, the brain. The Yogis claim that of all the energies that the human body comprises the highest is what they call ‘‘Ojas.” Now this Ozas is stored up in the brain, and the more r eV epee See Eta een et terTere! ‘ ee A ni eee ee Saibaiee di cabehers tat apy ial hee a ee pieketetete aie neste ttt iakdirne bbb siienes beat Pe ml Linas hahaa Sah Te paises Ceabiewuisieets tote Ne 60 RAJA YOGA. the Ojas is in a man’s head, the more powerful he is, the more intellectual, the more spiritually strong will that man be. This is the action of Ojas. One man may speak beautiful language and beautiful thoughts, but they do not impress people; another man speaks neither beautiful language nor beautiful thoughts, yet his words charm. That is the power of Ojas coming out. Every movement coming from him will be powerful. Now in all mankind there is more or less of this Ojas Stored up. And all the forces that are working in the body, in their highest form, become Oyas. You must remember that it is only a question of transformation. The same force which is working outside, as electricity or magnetism, will become changed into inner force; the same forces that are working as muscular energy will be changed into Qjas. The Vogés say that that part of the human energy which is expressed as sex energy, in sexual functions, sexual thought, and so on, when checked and controlled, easily becomes changed into Ojas, and as this lowest centre is the one which guides all these functions, therefore the Yog?' pays par- ticular attention to that centre. He tries to take up all this sexual energy and convert it into Qasy At as only the chaste man or woman who can make the Ojas rise and become stored in the brain, and that is why chastity has always been considered the highest virtue, because man feels that if he js unchaste, spirituality goes away, he loses mental vigour, and strong moral Stamina. That is why in all of the religious orders inTHE CONTROL OF PSYCHIC PRANA. OI the world that have produced spiritual giants you will always find this intense chastity insisted upon. That is why the monks came into existence, giving up mar- riage. There must be perfect chastity, in thought, word and deed. Without it the practice of Réja Yoga is dangerous, and may lead to insanity. If people practise Rdéja Yoga and at the same time lead an impure life, how can they expect to become Vogés # Ey “a4 aN a4 a 1 tT SEE 7 Ae| | oO \ a bY z eee See sen tee ere estar saat lL an sts ud assiakcnneu AEST SS Se a Ce aera te Neel ad eel re ye Tren ere tre Drrisiaaes EIR rT Ri aA SSA AE IO LEA ELA AS CHAPTER VI. PRATYAHARA AND DHARANA, THE next step is called Pratyéhdra, What is this? You know how perceptions come. First of all there are the external instruments, then the internal organs, acting in the body through the brain centres, and there is the mind. When these come together, and attach themselves to some external thing, then we perceive that thing. At the same time it is a very difficult thing to concentrate the mind and attach it to one organ only; the mind is a slave. We hear ‘‘ be good”’ and ‘‘ be good”’ and “‘ be good”’ taught all over the world. There is hardly a child, born in any country in the world, who has not been told ‘“do not steal,’ ‘‘ do not tell a lie,’’ but nobody tells the child how he can help it. Talking will never do it. Whv should he not become a thief? We do not teach him how not to steal; we simply tell him ‘‘do not steal.’’? Only when we teach him to control his mind do we really help him. All actions, internal and external, occur when the mind joins itself to certain centres, which centres are called the organs. Willingly or unwillingly it is drawn to join itself to the centres, and that is why people do foolish deeds and feel misery, which, if the mind were under control, they would not [62]PRATYAHARA AND DHARANA. 63 do. What would be the result of controlling the mind? It then would not join itself to the centres of percep- tion, and, naturally, feeling and willing would be under control. Itis clear so far. Is it possible? It is per- fectly possible. You see it in modern times; the faith- healers teach people to deny misery and pain and evil. Their philosophy is rather roundabout, but it is a part of Yoga into which they have somehow stumbled. In those cases where they succeed in making a person throw off suffering by denying it they have really taught a part of Pratyéhdra, as they have made the mind of the person taught strong enough to refuse to take up the record of the senses. The hypnotists in a similar manner, by their suggestion, excite in the patient a sort of morbid Pratyéhéra for the time being. The so-called hypnotic suggestion can only act upon a diseased body and a clouded mind. And until the operator, by means of fixed gaze or otherwise, has suc- ceeded in putting the mind of the subject in a sort of passive, morbid condition, his suggestions never work. Now the control of the centres which is established in a hypnotic patient or the patient of faith-healing, for a time, is utterly reprehensible, because it leads to ultimate ruin. It is not really controlling the brain centres by the power of one’s own will, but is, as it were, stunning the patient’s mind for a time by sudden blows which another’s will delivers to it. It is not checking by means of reins and muscular strength the mad career of a fiery team, but rather by asking another to deliver heavy blows on the heads of the anh gs eerie "=Sedan tenia eee eet GSTTNTEN esr estetds Ct ests Conte ere eee a ee = ee Sie i erm aiasniarebbabdane eat c 2. prereset tet pas a - . rere ts) okeaehie SRE sass bis oe ue ee, RAJA YOGA, horses, to stun them for a time into gentleness. At each one of these processes the man operated upon loses a part of his mental energies, and, at last, the mind, instead of gaining the power of perfect control, becomes a shapeless, powerless mass, and the only goal of the patient is the lunatic asylum, Every attempt at control which is not voluntary, not with the controller’s own mind, is not only disastrous, but it defeats the end. The goal of each soul is free- dom, mastery, freedom from the slavery of matter and thought, mastery of external and internal nature. Instead of leading towards that, every will current from another, in whatever form it comes to me, either as direct control of my organs, or as forcing me to control them while under a morbid condition, only rivets one link more to the already existing heavy chain of bondage of past thoughts, past superstition. There- fore, beware how you allow yourselves to be acted upon by others. Beware how you unknowingly bring another to ruin. True, some succeed in doing good to many for a time, by giving a new trend to their propensities, but at the same time, they bring ruin to millions by the unconscious hypnotic suggestions they throw around, rousing in men and women that morbid, passive, hypnotic condition which makes them almost soulless at last. Whosoever, therefore, asks anyone to believe blindly, or drags mankind behind him through controlling it by his superior will is an injurer to humanity, though he may not have intended it. Therefore use your own minds, control body andPRATYAHARA AND DHARANA, mind yourselves, remember that until you are a diseased person, no extraneous will can work upon you, and avoid everyone, however great and good he may be, who asks you to blindly believe. All over the world there have been dancing, and jumping, and howling sects, who spread like infections when they begin to sing and dance and preach; they also come under this heading. They exercise a singular control for the time being over sensitive persons, alas, often, in the long run, to degenerate whole races. Aye, it is healthier for the individual or the race to remain wicked than to be made apparently good by such morbid extraneous control. One’s heart sinks to think of the amount of injury done to humanity by such irresponsible, yet well- meaning religious fanatics. They little know that the minds which attain to sudden spiritual upheaval under their suggestions, with music and prayers, are simply making themselves passive, morbid, and powerless, and opening themselves to any other suggestion, be it ever so evil. Little do these ignorant, deluded persons dream that whilst they are congratulating themselves upon their miraculous power to transform human hearts, which power they think was poured upon them by some Being above the clouds, they are sowing the seeds of future decay, of crime, of lunacy, and of death. Therefore, beware of everything that takes away your freedom. Know that it is dangerous, and avoid it by all the means in your power. He who has succeeded in attaching or detaching his mind to or from the centres at will has succeeded in Pratyéhdra,_ £ a J Ss] al AN a ai E Es {66 RAJA YOGA. } | which means “‘ gathering towards,’’ checking the out- going powers of the mind, freeing it from the thraldom / of the senses. When we can do this we shall really "possess a character; then alone we shall have made a long step towards freedom; before that we are mere machines. How hard it is to control the mind. Well has it . been compared to the maddened monkey. There was a monkey, restless by his own nature, as all monkeys } are. Asif that were not enough someone made him | drink freely of wine, so that he became still more rest- less. Then a scorpion stung him. When a man is stung by a scorpion he jumps about for a whole day, so the poor monkey found his condition worse than ever. To complete his misery a demon entered into him. What language can describe the uncontrollable restlessness of that monkey? The human mind is like that monkey; incessantly active by its own nature, then it becomes drunk with the wine of desire, thus increasing its turbulence. After desire takes possession comes the sting of the scorpion of jealousy of others whose desires meet with fulfilment, and last of all the demon of pride takes possession of the mind, making it think itself of all importance. How hard to control such a mind. The first lesson, then, is to sit for some time and let Ache mind run on. The mind is bubbling up all the time. It is like that monkey jumping about. Let the monkey jump as much as he can; you simply wait and watch. Knowledge is power says the proverb, and Pibiehunhesice abel nase eee NEE ETT TTA Hee eee ee : cident itieite RN Mawes. tt rho eee tone a eS teen tetas ba eae oe 2 eneere ets = seh hehe aie oe ERE Ch EPs 1 ed ’ 3 A —— r Seabee eee niece Uu eee MLO T Te ee sie ites omen terete sh kiteatiienenth ss Sad ieaedh shine pete aie 4g pee Se" , Scariibshis meebhaie Sika eeeNetee eitatsT ae eeameeanandcmaibisanenseeiai hoes nm crea: 106 RAJA YOGA. tion of the mind. A book form, or an elephant form, or a man form, is not outside; all that we know is our mental reaction from the outer suggestion. Matter is the “‘permanent possibility of sensation,’”’ said John Stuart Mill. It is only the suggestion that is outside. Take an oyster for example. You know how pearls are made. A grain of sand or something gets inside and begins to irritate it, and the oyster throws a sort of enamelling around the sand, and this makes the pearl. This whole universe is our own enamel, so to say, and the real universe is the grain of sand. The ordinary man will never understand it, because, when he tries to, he throws out an enamel, and sees only his own enamel. Now we understand what is meant by these Vritt’s. The real man is behind the mind, and the mind is the instrument in his hands, and it is his intelligence that is percolating through it. It is only when you stand behind it that it becomes intelligent. When man gives it up it falls to pieces, and is nothing. So you understand what is meant by Chita. It is the mind-stuff, and Vyittis are the waves and ripples rising in it when external causes impinge onit. These Vrittis are our whole universe. The bottom of the lake we cannot see, because its surface is covered with ripples. It is only possible when the ripples have subsided, and the water is calm, for us to catch a glimpse of the bottom. If the water is muddy, the bottom will not be seen; if the water is agitated all the time, the bottom will not be seen. If the water is clear, and there are no waves, we shallYOGA APHORISMS. 107 see the bottom. That bottom of the lake is our own true Self; the lake is the Citta, and the waves the Vrittis. Again, this mind is in three states; one is darkness, which is called Zamas, just as in brutes and idiots; it only acts to injure others. No other idea comes into that state of mind. Then there is the active state of mind, Aazas, whose chief motives are power and enjoyment. ‘I will be powerful and rule others.’’ Then, at last, when the waves cease, and the water of the lake becomes clear, there is the state called Sativa, serenity, calmness. It is not inac- tive, but rather intensely active. It is the greatest manifestation of power to be calm. It is easy to be active. Let the reins go, and the horses will drag you down. Any onecan do that, but he who can stop the plunging horses is the strong man. Which requires the greater strength, letting go, or restraining? The calm man is not the man who is dull. You must not mistake Safttva for dulness, or laziness. The calm man is the one who has restraint of these waves. Ac- tivity is the manifestation of the lower strength, calm- ness of the superior strength. This CAztfa is always trying to get back to its natural pure state, but the organs draw it out. To restrain it, and to check this outward tendency, and to start it on the return journey to that essence of intelligence is the first step in Yoga, because only in this way can the Chitta get into its proper course. Although this C4zffa is in every animal, from the lowest to the highest, it is only in the human form that eo eeee eee ere eee eer OL TS Tt sci one nerett io a _ = i —— Ses pat -his eed be site FAAP anaes meena reesei iid bie eter re cE ere ete Ce Sect ee ene eee ee aera eee eee ah Stone 108 RAJA YOGA. we find intellect, and until the mind-stuff can take the form of intellect it is not possible for it to return through all these steps, and liberate the soul. Imme- diate salvation is impossible for the cow and the dog, although they have mind, because their Chita cannot as yet take that form which we call intellect. Cfitta manifests itself in all these different forms — scattering, darkening, weakening, and concentrating. These are the four states in which the mind-stuff mani- fests itself. First a scattered form, is activity. Its tendency is to manifest in the form of pleasure or of pain. Then the dull form is darkness, the only ten- dency of which is to injure others. The commentator says the first form is natural to the Devas, the angels, and the second is the demoniacal form. Vikshipta is when it struggles to centre itself. The Ekégra, the concentrated form of the Cyitfa, is what brings us to Samadhi. 3, At that time (the time of concentration) the seer (the Purusa) rests in his own (unmodified) state. As soon as the waves have stopped, and the lake has become quiet, we see the ground below the lake. So with the mind; when it is calm, we see what our own mature is; we do not mix ourselves but remain our own Selves.YOGA APHORISMS. 109 4, At other times (other than that of concentra- tion) the seer is identified with the modifica- tions, For instance, I am in a state of sorrow; some one blames me; this is a modification, Vrztti, and I identify myself with it, and the result is misery. 5. There are five classes of modifications, painful and not painful. 6. (These are) right knowledge, indiscrimination, verbal delusion, sleep, and memory. 7. Direct perception, inference, and competent evi- dence, are proofs, When two of our perceptions do not contradict each other we call it proof. I hear something, and, if it contradicts something already perceived, I begin to fight it out, and do not believe it. There are also three kinds of proof. Direct perception, Pratyaksham, whatever we see and feel, is proof, if there has been nothing to delude the senses. I see the world; that is sufficient proof that it exists. Secondly, Anumdna, inference; you see a sign, and from the sign you come to the thing signified. Thirdly, Aptavdkyam, the direct perception of the Yog?, of those who have seen the truth. We are all of us struggling towards knowl- edge, but you and I have to struggle hard, and come to knowledge through a long tedious process of reasoning, but the Yog?, the pure one, has gone beyond all this. Before his mind, the past, the present, and' | Eerste eect raeee aches ca una ecee een eee TOT LAPT Tes ett (tos Sins Conte eee Tete aie beetle SS) ts Ra eee te a8 PETAL s . a 4 ~ = or — — ribs Sos bisehaie oe shia sie beea nee T Pee ree erate Lbs Lanett a epee teeter to ow ace ene 110 RAJA YOGA the future, are alike one book for him to read; he does not require to go through all this tedious process, and his words are proofs, because he sees knowledge in himself; he is the Omniscient One. These, for instance, are the authors of the Sacred Scriptures; therefore the Scriptures are proof, and, if any such persons are living now, their words wil! be proof. Other philosophers go into long discussions about this Apta, and they say, what is the proof that this is truth? The proof is because they see it; because whatever I see is proof, and whatever you see is proof, if it does not contradict any past knowledge. There is knowledge beyond the senses, and whenever it does not contradict reason and past human experience, that knowledge is proof. Any madman may come into this room and say he sees angels around him; that would not be proof. In the first place it must be true knowledge, and, secondly, it must not contradict knowledge of the past, and, thirdly, it must depend upon the character of the man. I hear it said that the character of the man is not of so much importance as what he may say; we must first hear what he says. This may be true in other things; a man may be wicked, and yet make an astronomical discovery, but in religion it is different, because no impure man will ever have the power to reach the truths of religion. Therefore, we have first of all to see that the man who declares himself to be an Apfta is a perfectly unselfish and holy person; secondly that he has reached beyond the senses, and thirdly that what he says does not contradict the past knowledgeYOGA APHORISMS. III of humanity. Any new discovery of truth does not contradict the past truth, but fits into it. And, fourthly, that truth must have a possibility of verifica- tion. If a man says “‘I have seen a vision,’’ and tells me that I have no right to see it, I believe him not. Every one must have the power to see it for himself. No one who sells his knowledge is an Apia. All these conditions must be fulfilled; you must firstsee that the man is pure, and that he has no selfish motive; that he has no thirst for gain or fame. Secondly, he must show that he is super-conscious. Thirdly, he must give us something that we cannot get from our senses, and which is for the benefit of the world. And we must see that it does not contradict other truths; if it contradict other scientific truths’ reject it at once. Fourthly, the man should never be singular; he should only represent what all men can attain. The three sorts of proof, are, then, direct sense perception, inference, and the words of an Affa. I cannot trans- late this word into English. It is not the word inspired, because that comes from outside, while this comes from himself. The literal meaning is ‘‘attained.’’ 8, Indiscrimination is false knowledge not estab- lished in real nature. The next class of Vrittis that arise is mistaking the one thing for another, as a piece of mother-of-pearl is taken for a piece of silver. ? tT.) etal P | i 3 % { a ; A = |eo une hea hua AVERYS Et Coes : Sess SeINE ae isis stbs hes eee hdiei S0ReFa tRNNE EDP ard bi hee ea Se ceo err Ce acc were eet ee ere eee ee eee ore ene RAJA YOGA. 9. Verbal delusion follows from words having no (corresponding) reality, There is another class of Vyittis called Vikalpa. A word is uttered, and we do not wait to consider its meaning; we jump to a conclusion immediately. It is the sign of weakness of the Chitta. Now you can understand the theory of restraint. The weaker the man the less he has of restraint. Consider yourselves always in that way. When you are going to be angry or miserable, reason it out, how it is that some news that has come to you is throwing your mind into Vrittis. 10. Sleep is a Vritti which embraces the feeling of voidness, The next class of Vrittis is called sleep and dream. When we awake we know that we have been sleeping; we can only have memory of perception. That which we do not perceive we never can have any memory of. Every reaction is a wave in the lake. Now, if, during sleep, the mind had no waves, it would have no percep- tions, positive or negative, and, therefore, we would not remember them. The very reason of our remem- bering sleep is that during sleep there was a certain class of waves in the mind. Memory is another class of Vyittis, which is called Smit.YOGA APHORISMS, I13 11. Memory is when the (Vrittis of ) perceived sub- jects do not slip away (and through impressions come back to consciousness), Memory can be caused by the previous three. For instance, you hear a word. That word is like a stone thrown into the lake of the C/zta ; it causes a ripple, and that ripple rouses a series of ripples; this is memory. So in sleep. When the peculiar kind of ripple called sleep throws the CZi#a into a ripple of memory it is called a dream. Dream is another form of the ripple which in the waking state is called memory. 12, Their control is by practice and non-attach- ment, The mind, to have this non-attachment, must be clear, good and rational. Why should we practise ? Because each action is like the pulsations quivering over the surface of the lake. The vibration dies out, and what is left? The Samskéras, the impressions. When a large number of these impressions is left on the mind they coalesce, and become a habit. It is said ‘‘ habit is second .nature;’’ it is first nature also, and the whole nature of man; everything that we are is the result of habit. That gives us consolation, be- cause, if it is only habit, we can make and unmake it at any time. This Samskdra is left by these vibrations passing out of our mind, each one of them leaving its result Our characteris the sum-total of these marks, and according as some particular wave prevails one 8(AMT Cutts sce ote TER ae! Gatbkitherate Mbit o earned uit 4) SLA Fa TTT La che bale eer eee ~ [i Gr - 2) jee o ee 7 Te hole nena Lar rh ha ele cia arenes Resets 114 RAJA YOGA. takes that tone. If good prevail one becomes good, if wickedness one becomes wicked, if joyfulness one becomes happy. The only remedy for bad habits is counter habits; all the bad habits that have left their impressions are to be controlled by good habits. Go on doing good, thinking holy thoughts continuously; that is the only way to Suppress base impressions, Never say any man is hopeless, because he only rep- resents a character, a bundle of habits, and these can be checked by new and better ones. Character is repeated habits, and repeated habits alone can reform character. 13, Continuous struggle to keep them (the Vrittis) perfectly restrained is practice. What is this practice? The attempt to restrain the mind in the Citta form, to prevent its going out into waves. 14. Its ground becomes firm by long, constant efforts with great love (for the end to be attained), Restraint does not come in one day, but by long continued practice. 15. That effect which comes to those who have given up their thirst after objects either seen or heard, and which wills to control the objects, is non-attachment, Two motives of our actions are (1) What we see our- selves; (2) The experience of others. These two= — Be - — ee So ie Serene sc eeloat eke es aatmealeneene ie clea at ates ener aE ee ek a YOGA APHORISMS. I15 rorces are throwing the mind, the lake, into various waves. these, and holdin Renunciation is the power of battling against g the mind in check. of these two motives is what we want. Renunciation I am passing through a street, anda mancomes and takes my watch. That is my own experience. I see it myself, and it immediately throws my Chitfa into a wave, taking the form of anger. Allow not that to come. If you can- not prevent that, you are nothing; if you can, you have Vairdgyam. Similarly, the experience of the worldly-minded teaches us that sense enjoyments are the highest ideal. These are tremendous temptations. To deny them, and not allow the mind to come intoa wave form with regard to them, is renunciation; to control the twofold motive powers arising from my own experience, and from the experience of others, and thus prevent the Ciitta from being governed by them, is Vairdgyam. me, and not I by is called renunciation. way to freedom. These should be controlled by them. This sort of mental strength This Vairégyam is the only 16. That extreme non-attachment, giving up even the qualities, shows (the real nature of) the Purusa. It is the highest manifestation of power when it takes away even our attraction towards the qualities. We have first to understand what the Purwsa, the Self, is, and what are the qualities. philosophy the whole of nature consists of three quali- According to Yoga } =)2p ieee ska eebi sites) Barus P yA — CTI Has, copie eying ore, Pic Ch Lies aie \ f| S| ¢ : \ a —< SS eae ent hematin tenet} MIEN Nissen eet 116 RAJA YOGA. ties; one is called Zamas, another Rayas, and the third Sattva. These three qualities manifest themselves in the physical world as attraction, repulsion, and con- trol. Everything that is in nature, all these manifes- tations, are combinations and recombinations of these three forces. This nature has been divided into vari- ous categories by the Séxkhyas ; the Self of man is be- yond all these, beyond nature, is effulgent by Its very nature. It is pure and perfect. Whatever of intelli gence we see in nature is but the reflection from this Self upon nature. Nature itself is insentient. You must remember that the word nature also includes the mind; mind is in nature; thought is in nature; from thought, down to the grossest form of matter, every- thing is in nature, the manifestation of nature. This nature has covered the Self of man, and when nature takes away the covering the Self becomes unveiled, and appears in Its own glory. This non-attachment, as it is described in Aphorism 15 (as being control of nature) is the greatest help towards manifesting the Self. The next aphorism defines Samédhi, perfect concentration, which is the goal of the Yogi. 17, The concentration called right knowledge is that which is followed by reasoning, discrim- ination, bliss, unqualified ego, This Samddhi is divided into two varieties. One is called the Samprajndta, and the other the Asamprajnata. The Samprajynéta is of four varieties. In this Semddhi come all the powers of controlling nature. The first> => See fe " es aaa pets a #2 a ‘ taal Se FA Raritiial Tareiak se eee as Se eee a ee ae ee eg eee eee a ees ak YOGA APHORISMS. 117 variety is called the Savitarka, when the mind medi- tates upon an object again and again, by isolating it from other objects. There are two sorts of objects for meditation, the categories of nature, and the Purusa. Again, the categories are of two varieties; the twenty-four categories are insentient, and the one sentient is the Purufa. When the mind thinks of the elements of nature by thinking of their beginning and their end, this is one sort of Savitarka. The words require explanation. This part of Yoga is based entirely on Sdénkhya Philosophy, about which I have already told you. As you will remember, egoism and will, and mind, have a common basis, and that com- mon basis is called the Citta, the mind-stuff, out of which they are all manufactured. This mind-stuff takes in the forces of nature, and projects them as thought. There must be something, again, where both force and matter are one. This is called Avyakiam, the unmanifested state of nature, before creation, and to which, after the end of a cycle, the whole of nature returns, to again come out after another period. Be- yond that is the Purufa, the essence of intelligence. There is no liberation in getting powers. It is a worldly search after enjoyments, and there is no enjoy- ment in this life; all search for enjoyment is vain; this is the old, old lesson which man finds it so hard to learn. When he does learn it, he gets out of the uni- verse and becomes free. The possession of what are called occult powers is only intensifying the worid, and in the end, intensifying suffering. "Though, as aerat atti Le area ieee P — — esc ran ere F eerie erie earn eee rae TT Ae se 2 Me SRC Drea aes baa DSS te ST tele eke. tT bebiren) Pir ig = _— pref TOL NO Sieger cre TD tt poi tretht m ble esate hihi aaa eR nie FL ria 118 RAJA YOGA. scientist, Patanjali is bound to point out the possi- bilities of this science, he never misses an opportunity to warn us against these powers. Knowledge is power, and as soon as we begin to know a thing we get power Over it; so also, when the mind begins to meditate on the different elements it gains power over them. That sort of meditation where the external gross elements are the objects is called Savitarka. Turka means ques- tion, Savitarka with-question. Questioning the ele- ments, as it were, that they may give up their truths and their powers to the man who meditates upon them. Again, in the very same meditation, when one Struggles to take the elements out of time and space, and think of them as they are, it is called LVirvitarka, without-question. When the meditation goes a step higher, and takes the Zunmétras as its object, and thinks of them as in time and space, it is called Sazs- chéra, with-discrimination, and when the same medita- tion gets beyond time and space, and thinks of the fine elements as they are, it is called Nirvichéra, with- out-discrimination. The next step is when the ele- ments are given up, either as gross or as fine, and the object of meditation is the interior organ, the thinking organ, and when the thinking organ is thought of as bereft of the qualities of activity, and of dulness, it is then called Sdnandam, the blissful Samédhi. In that Samédhi, when we are thinking of the mind as the object of meditation, before we have reached the state which takes us beyond the mind even, when it has become very ripe and concentrated, when all ideas of> — woe —— — —_ ei eal ritis sot rie : " » < See sy S80 y en LS - Pe eee eee en aa ae eee tak ae YOGA APHORISMS. II9g the gross materials, or fine materials, have been given up, and the only object is the mind as it is, when the Sativa state only of the Zgo remains, but differentiated from all other objects, this is called Asmitd Samédhi, and the man who has attained to this has attained to what is called in the Vedas ‘‘ bereft of body.’’ He can think of himself as without his gross body; but he will have to think of himself as with a fine body. Those that in this state get merged in nature without attain- ing the goal are called Prakritilayas, but those who do not even stop at any enjoyments, reach the goal, which is freedom. 18, There is another Samadhi which is attained by the constant practice of cessation of all mental activity, in which the Chitta retains only the unmanifested impressions. This is the perfect super-conscious Asamprajndta Samdédhi, the state which gives us freedom. The first state does not give us freedom, does not liberate the soul. A man may attain to all powers, and yet fall again. There is no safeguard until the soul goes be- yond nature, and beyond conscious concentration. It is very difficult to attain, although its method seems very easy. Its method is to hold the mind as the object, and whenever thought comes, to strike it down, allowing no thought to come into the mind, thus making it an entire vacuum. When we can really do this, in that moment we shall attain liberation. When persons without training and preparation try to make a Z r A ® m re paSane Learmonth TREE ADR ead ar rar oe eer Pe oe eerie ee paper brine ny BPs bao tees ts ist Ea ot chia) as cht Ota reds siidid cli: kas sea aiet shies SO te aaa a Paee reed be d eecerce ee eeeeeey 120 RAJA YOGA, their minds vacant they are likely to succeed only in covering themselves with Zamas, material of ignor- ance, which makes the mind dull and stupid, and leads them to think that they are making a vacuum of the mind. To be able to really do that is a manifestation of the greatest strength, of the highest control. When this state, Asamprajndta, super-consciousness, is reached, the Samdédhi becomes seedless. What is meant by that? In that sort of concentration when there is consciousness, where the mind has succeeded only in quelling the waves in the Chitfa and holding them down, they are still there in the form of tenden- cies, and these tendencies (or seeds) will become waves again, when the time comes. But when you have destroyed all these tendencies, almost destroyed the mind, then it has become seedless, there are no more seeds in the mind out of which to manufacture again and again this plant of life, this ceaseless round of birth and death. You may ask, what state would that be, in which we should have no knowledge ? What we call knowledge is a lower state than the one beyond knowledge. You must always bear in mind that the extremes look very much the same. The low vibra- tion of light is darkness, and the very high vibration of light is darkness also, but one is real darkness, and the other is really intense light; yet their appearance is the same. So, ignorance is the lowest state, knowl- edge is the middle state, and beyond knowledge is a still higher state. Knowledge itself is a manufactured something, a combination; it is not reality. WhatYOGA APHORISMS. I2!I will be the result of constant practice of this higher concentration ? All old tendencies of restlessness, and dulness, will be destroyed, as well as the tendencies of goodness too. It is just the same as with the metals that are used with gold to take off the dirt and alloy. When the ore is smelted down, the dross is burnt along with thealloy. So this constant controlling power will stop the previous bad tendencies, and, eventually, the good ones also. Those good and evil tendencies will suppress each other, and there will remain the Soul, in all its glorious splendour, untrammelled by either good or bad, and that Soul is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. By giving up all powers it has become omnipotent, by giving up all life it is beyond mortal- ity; it has become life itself. Then the Soul will know It neither had birth nor death, neither want of heaven nor of earth. It will know that It neither came nor went; it was nature which was moving, and that move- ment was reflected upon the Soul. The form of the light is moving, it is reflected and cast by the camera upon the wall, and the wall foolishly thinks it is mov- ing. So with all of us; it is the Chita constantly mov- ing, manipulating itself into various forms, and we think that we are these various forms. All these delu- sions will vanish. When that free Soul will com- mand — not pray or beg, but command —then what- ever It desires will be immediately fulfilled; whatever It wants It will be able to do. According to the Sénkhya Philosophy there is no God. It says thata} a Se] RI an ietdhiskehnstiee a heswiisc hind eek tbat eee ME Pindar ress (t Ee Siecyoeteeeteetts tt ie iepett ss Ue toate) ot tne attr ae — fe ERI ATI ei peer ere tt oe Sihssst ship daaslaie ig ie eter aieaNls TePoeeee natiademcaidisiites elasesse aca 122 RAJA YOGA. there cannot be any God of this universe, because if there were He must be a Soul, and a Soul must be one of two things, either bound orfree. How can the soul that is bound by nature, or controlled by nature, create? It is itself a slave. On the other hand, what business has the soul that is free to create and manipu- late all these things? It has no desires, so cannot have any need to create. Secondly, it says the theory of God is an unnecessary one; nature explains all. What is the use of any God? But Kapila teaches that there are many souls, who, though nearly attaining perfection, fall short because they cannot perfectly renounce all powers. Their minds for a time merge in nature, to re-emerge as its masters. Such gods there are. Weshall all become such gods, and, accord. ing to the Séxkhyas, the God spoken of in the Vedas really means one of these free souls. Beyond them there is not an eternally free and blessed Creator of the universe. Om the other hand the Yogis say, ‘‘ Not so, there is a God; there is one Soul separate from all other souls, and He is the eternal Master of all crea- tion, the Ever Free, the Teacher of all teachers.”’ The Yogés admit that those the Sénkhyas call the ““merged in nature ”’ also exist. They are Vogts who have fallen short of perfection, and though, for a time debarred from attaining the goal, remain asrulers of parts of the universe.YOGA APHORISMS. 123 19. (This Samadhi, when not followed by extreme non-attachment) becomes the cause of the re- manifestation of the gods and of those that become merged in nature, The gods in the Indian systems represent certain high offices which are being filled successively by various souls. But none of them is perfect. 20. To others (this Samadhi) comes through faith, energy, memory, concentration, and discrimin- ation of the real. These are they who do not want the position of gods, or even that of rulers of cycles. They attain to liberation. 21. Success is speedy for the extremely energetic. 22. They again differ according as the means are mild, medium or supreme. 23. Or by devotion to I svara, 24, Isvara (the Supreme Ruler) is a special Purusa, untouched by misery, the results of actions, or desires. We must again remember that this Patanjali Yoga Philosophy is based upon that of the Sdéxkhyas, only that in the latter there is no place for God, while with the Yog?s God has a place. The Vogts, however, avoid many ideas about God, such as creating. God as the Creator of the Universe is not meant by the /svara of the Yogis, although, according to the Vedas, /$vara isSi tihad Aedechiineetassh oi hak Rca sbh dhdbinnh beaked rarer CRIS hqyTacpepehinin io mem: ie siesS Libri bs bes lena hes bots thier eae eee esi ee eeee nee aso Ae TTS Se (te Seen ee | €: Be ee gel 124 RAJA YOGA. the Creator of the universe. Seeing that the universe is harmonious, it must be the manifestation of one will. The Vogts and Sdénkhyas both avoid the question of creation. The Vog#s want to establish a God, but carefully avoid this question, they do not raise it at all. Yet you will find that they arrive at God ina peculiar fashion of their own. They say: 25. In Him becomes infinite that all-knowingness which in others is (only) a germ. The mind must always travel between two extremes. You can think of limited space, but the very idea of that gives you also unlimited space. Close your eyes and think of a little space, and at the same time that you perceive the little circle, you have a circle round it of unlimited dimensions. It is the same with time. Try to think of a second, you will have, with the same act of perception, to think of time which is unlimited. So with knowledge. Knowledge is only a germ in man, but you will have to think of infinite knowledge around it, so that the very nature of your constitution shows us that there is unlimited knowledge, and the Yogis call that unlimited knowledge God. 26. He is the Teacher of even the ancient teachers, being not limited by time. It is true that all knowledge is within ourselves, but this has to be called forth by another knowledge. Although the capacity to know is inside us, it must beRas — os SS eee Soy mabmaas ean any Poort Bees T| STAY sraironibicperpee anise Seledeecnceetceeisennentactene cette emanate aa eee eee Ne a ee YOGA APHORISMS. 125 called out, and that calling out of knowledge can only be got, a Yog/ maintains, through another knowledge. Dead, insentient matter, never calls out knowledge, it is the action of knowledge that brings our knowledge. Knowing beings must be with us to call forth what is in us, so these teachers were always necessary. The world was never without them, and no knowledge can come without them. God is the Teacher of all teach- ers, because these teachers, however great they may have been — gods or angels — were all bound and lim- ited by time, and God is not limited by time. These are the two peculiar deductions of the Vogts. The first is that in thinking of the limited, the mind must think of the unlimited, and that if one part of that perception is true the other must be, for the reason that their value as perceptions of the mind is equal. The very fact that man has a little knowledge, shows that God has unlimited knowledge. If Iam to take one, why not the other? Reason forces me to take both or reject both. If I believe that there is a man witha little knowledge, I must also admit that there is some- one behind him with unlimited knowledge. The second deduction is that no knowledge can come with- outa teacher. It is true as the modern philosophers say, that there is something in man which evolves out of him; all knowledge is in man, but certain environ- ments are necessary to call it out. We cannot find any knowledge without teachers, if there are men teachers, god teachers, or angel teachers, they are all limited; who was the teacher before them? We are forced tom7 _ amie une nEei teen iuuure att ae ee Siren athe dtartibenns iiss taetaniieebisicenek eeeet eee ~ Reece ete ty cer eae PE ek Se RN AE GLE TE ce ETS eee toda! 126 RAJA YOGA, admit, as a last conclusion, One Teacher, Who is not limited by time, and that One Teacher of infinite knowledge, without beginning or end, is called God. 27. His manifesting word is Om. Every idea that you have in the mind has a counter- part in a word; the word and the thought are insepar- able. The external part of the thought is what we call word, and the internal part is what we call thought. No man can, by analysis, separate thought from word. The idea that language was created by men — certain men sitting together and deciding upon words, has been proved to be wrong. So long as things have existed there have been words and language. What is the connection between an idea and a word ? Although we see that there must always be a word witha thought, it is not necessary that the same thought requires the same word. The thought may be the same in twenty different countries, yet the language is different. We must have a word to express each thought, but these words need not necessarily have the same sound, Sounds will vary in different nations. Our commenta- tor says “‘ Although the relation between thought and word is perfectly natural, yet it does not mean a rigid connection between one sound and one idea.’’ These sounds vary, yet the relation between the sounds and the thoughts is a natural one. The connection between thoughts and sounds is good only if there be a real connection between the thing signified and the sym- bol, and until then that symbol will never come intoPa aS ee enn YOGA APHORISMS., 127 general use. Symbol is the manifestor of the thing signified, and if the thing signified has already exist- ence, and if, by experience, we know that the symbol has expressed that thing many times, then we are sure that there is the real relation between them. Even if the things are not present, there will be thousands who will know them by their symbols. There must bea natural connection between the symbol and the thing signified; then, when that symbol is pronounced, it recalls the thing signified. The commentator says the manifesting word of God is Om. Why does he empha- size this? There are hundreds of words for God. One thought is connected with a thousand words; the idea, God, is connected with hundreds of words, and each one stands asasymbol for God. Very good. But there must be a generalisation among all these words, some substratum, some common ground of all these symbols, and that symbol which is the common sym- bol will be the best, and will really be the symbol of all. In making a sound we use the larynx, and the palate as a sounding board. Is there any material sound of which all other sounds must be manifesta- tions, one which is the most natural sound? Om (Aum) is such a sound, the basis of all sounds. The first letter, A, is the root sound, the key, pronounced without touching any part of the tongue or palate; M represents the last sound in the series, being pro- duced by the closed lips, and the U rolls from the very root to the end of the sounding board of the mouth. Thus, Om represents the whole phenomena eal a hasitatal? Saas ay = a A2 rere ete Ce Pec tents ee Ty ig Sat TS re rt Le alii ee LT) ne dicen ani nana OU UnaEte ua fuer es titi {t (ecis eee nett 2 EAGT ES TREES EL 128 RAJA YOGA, of sound producing. As such, it must be the natural symbol, the matrix of all the various sounds. It denotes the whole range and possibility of all the words that can be made. Apart from these specula- tions we see that around this word Om are centred all the different religious ideas in India; all the various religious ideas of the Vedas have gathered themselves round this word Om. What has that to do with America and England, or any other country ? Simply that the word has been retained at every stage of religious growth in India, and it has been manipulated to mean all the various ideas about God. Monists, Dualists, Mono-Dualists, Separatists, and even Athe- ists, took up this Om. Om has become the one symbol for the religious aspiration of the vast majority of human beings. Take, for instance, the English word God. It covers onlya limited function, and, if you go beyond it, you have to add adjectives, to make it Per- sonal, or Impersonal, or Absolute God. So with the words for God in every other language; their significa- tion is very small. This word Om, however, has around it all the various significances. As such it should be accepted by everyone. 28. The repetition of this (Om) and meditating on its meaning (is the way). Why should there be repetition? We have not for- gotten that theory of Samskéras, that the sum-total of impressions lives in the mind. Impressions live in the= = Pa SS —_ ne os ree ri izes] Crees es aT) a _— ey ial A has alabal tiene tarsi a pth So ieee ateenaie nana bel ecient a es Se eee, ee cee Rk eRe hell YOGA APHORISMS. 129 mind, the sum-total of impressions, and they become more and more latent, but remain there, and as soon as they get the right stimulus they come out. Molec- ular vibration will never cease. When this universe is destroyed all the massive vibrations disappear, the sun, moon, stars, and earth, will melt down, but the vibrations must remain in the atoms. Each atom will perform the same function as the big worlds do. So the vibrations of this Chita will subside, but will go on like molecular vibrations, and when they get the impulse wiil come out again. We can now understand what is meant by repetition. It is the greatest stimu- lus that can be given to the spiritual Samskéras. ‘“ One moment of company with the Holy makes a ship to cross this ocean of life.’’ Such is the power of association. So this repetition of Om, and thinking of its meaning, is keeping good company in your own mind. Study, and then meditate and meditate, when you have studied. Thus light will come to you, the Self will become manifest. But one must think of this Om, and of its meaning too. Avoid evil company, because the scars of old wounds are in you, and this evil company is just the heat that is necessary to call them out. In the same way we are told that good company will call out the good impressions that are in us, but which have be- come latent. There ts nothing holier in this world than to keep good company, because the good impres- sions will have this same tendency to come to the surface. 9 t eee tie ade i ieher ea [ jMiiil StH buries Se ehseeee aes neh eee ua eee MR Tsetse treet ia Site an T aie taleee sialic lane aoe bhai beeen bats Gk cates ee eon etnta tei. eet ee ysis re A “ea er F 130 RAJA YOGA. 29, From that is gained (the knowledge of) intro: spection, and the destruction of obstacles. The first manifestation of this repetition and think- ing of Om will be that the introspective power will be manifested more and more, and all the mental and physical obstacles will begin to vanish. What are the obstacles to the Vog? ? 30. Disease, mental laziness, doubt, calmness, cessa- tion, false perception, non-attaining concentra- tion, and falling away from the state when obtained, are the obstructing distractions. Disease. This body is the boat which will carry us to the other shore of the ocean of life. It must be taken care of. Unhealthy persons cannot be Vogés. Mental laziness makes us lose all lively interest in the subject, without which there will neither be the will nor the energy to practise. Doubts will arise in the mind about the truth of the science, however strong one’s intellectual conviction may be, until certain peculiar psychic experiences come, as hearing, or see- ing, at a distance, etc. These glimpses strengthen the mind and make the student persevere. Falling away when attained. Some days or weeks when you are practising the mind will be calm and easily concen- trated, and you will find yourself progressing fast. All of a sudden the progress will stop one day, and you will find yourself, as it were, stranded. Persevere. All progress proceeds by such rise and fall.MSS eS — 3 eee VUE VT hire Sen nnn een een eee eee eee ee ae en ee eae ee YOGA APHORISMS. [31 31. Grief, mental distress, tremor of the body, irregular breathing, accompany non-retention of concentration. Concentration will bring perfect repose to mind and body every time it is practised. When the practice has been misdirected, or not enough controlled, these disturbances come. Repetition of Om and self-sur- render to the Lord will strengthen the mind, and bring fresh energy. The nervous shakings will come to almost everyone. Do not mind them at all, but keep on practising. Practice will-cure them, and make tne seat firm. 32. To remedy this the practice of one subject (should be made), Making the mind take the form of one object for some time will destroy these obstacles. This is gen- eral advice. In the following aphorisms it will be expanded and particularised. As one practice cannot suit everyone, various methods will be advanced, and everyone by actual experience will find out that which helps him most. 33. Friendship, mercy, gladness, indifference, being thought of in regard to subjects, happy, un- happy, good and evil respectively, pacify the Chitta. We must have these four sorts of ideas. We must have friendship for all; we must be merciful towardsTO gg ET Stu iiean uh ena iit eit taue ee Meee Se iP era mT _ a PM es rere Seok he a le ee — aS oe creer te Se “ = 7 a __ eh cies ne haie be oe i ieee hasan 132 RAJA YOGA. those that are in misery; when people are happy we ought to be happy, and to the wicked we must be indifferent. So with all subjects that come before us. If the subject is a good one, we shall feel friendly towards it; if the subject of thought is one that is miserable we must be merciful towards the subject. If it is good we must be glad, if it is evil we must be in- different. These attitudes of the mind towards the different subjects that come before it will make the mind peaceful. Most of our difficulties in our daily lives come from being unable to hold our minds in this way. For instance, if a man does evil to us, instantly we want to react evil, and every reaction of evil shows that we are not able to hold the Chitfz down; it comes out in waves towards the object, and we lose our power. Every reaction in the form of hatred or evil is so much loss to the mind, and every evil thought or deed of hatred, or any thought of reaction, if it is con- trolled, will be laid in our favour. It is not that we lose by thus restraining ourselves; we are gaining infinitely more than we suspect. Each time we sup- press hatred, or a feeling of anger, it is so much good energy stored up in our favour; that piece of energy will be converted into the higher powers. 34, By throwing out and restraining the Breath. The word used is Préna. Préna is not exactly breath. It is the name for the energy that is in the universe. Whatever you see in the universe, whatever moves or works, or has life, is a manifestation of thisYOGA APHORISMS. 133 Prdéna. Tne sum-total of the energy displayed in the universe is called Prdua. This Prdua, before a cycle begins, remains in an almost motionless state, and when the cycle begins this Prdéua begins to manifest itself. It is this Préna that is manifested as motion, as the nervous motion in human beings or animals, and the same P7rdna is manifesting as thought, and so on. The whole universe isacombination of Prdéza and Aké§Sa; sois the human body. Out of Akésa you get the different materials that you feel, and see, and out of Préna all the various forces. Now this throwing out and restraining the Prdéna is what is called Préndydma. Patanjali, the father of the Yoga Philosophy, does not give very many particular directions about Prdudyéma, but later on other Yog/s found out various things about this Préudydma, and made of it a great science. With Pantanjali it is one of the many ways, but he does not lay much stress on it. He means that you simply throw the air out, and drawn it in, and hold it for some time, that is all, and by that, the mind will be come alittle calmer. But, later on, you will find that out of this is evolved a particular science called Prdnd- yéma. We will hear a little of what these later Yogis have to say. Some of this I have told you before, but a little repetition will serve to fix it in your minds. First, you must remember that this Prdéna is not the breath. But that which causes the motion of the breath, that which is the vitality of the breath is the Préna. Again, the word Préna is used of all the senses; they are all called Prdzas, the mind is called eat 1! ice. =) os) =) iBr stu (is Cote tite aren oor Cr hSEo oc kaer ies nuke ite basi nena One ee tt Fre eS iain id a LE ee ere Nae eLetter: tee eee ee canara \ a = ] E —s4 134 RAJA YOGA, Préna ; and so we see that Prénais the name of a cer: tain force. And yet we cannot call it force, because force is only the manifestation of it. It is that which manifests itself as force and everything else in the way of motion. The Chita, the mind-stuff, is the engine which draws in the Prénza from the surroundings, and manufactures out of this Préya these various vital forces. First of all the forces that keep the body in preservation, and lastly thought, will, and all other powers. By this process of breathing we can control all the various motions in the body, and the various nerve currents that are running through the body. First we begin to recognise them, and then we slowly get control over them. Now these later Yogts con- sider that there are three main currents of this Préna in the human body. One they call 7¢é, another Pin- galé, and the third Susumné. Pingalé, according to them, is on the right side of the spinal column, and the /¢@é is on the left side, and in the middle of this spinal column is the Swsumné, a vacant channel. Ldé and Pingalé, according to them, are the currents work- ing in every man, and through these currents, we are performing all the functions of life. Susumnd is pres- ent in all, as a possibility; but it works only in the Yogi. You must remember that the Yog? changes his body; as you go on practising your body changes; it is not the same body that you had before the practice. That is very rational, and can be explained, because every new thought that we have must make, as it were, a new channel through the brain, and that— et = oe “Ss — , ~ eta Raritatal liensteteeereet Ss entrees Aecnoacourec ccna aes a ae ac ee geek ee Sk et YOGA APHORISMS. 135 explains the tremendous conservatism of human nature. Human nature likes to run through the ruts that are already there, because it is easy. If we think, just for example’s sake, that the mind is like a needle, and the brain substance a soft lump before it, then each thought that we have makes a street, as it were, in the brain, and this street would close up, but that the grey matter comes and makes a lining to keep it separate. If there were no grey matter there would be no memory, because memory means going over these old streets, retracing a thought as it were. Now per- haps you have remarked that when I talk on subjects in which I take a few ideas that are familiar to every: one, and combine, and recombine them, it is easy to follow, because these channels are present in every- one’s brain, and it is only necessary to recur to them. But whenever a new subject comes new channels have to be made, so it is-not understood so readily. And that is why the brain (it is the brain, and not the people themselves) refuses unconsciously to be acted upon by new ideas. It resists. The Préua is trying to make new channels, and the brain will not allow it. This is the secret of conservatism. The less channels there have been in the brain, and the less the needle of the Prdua has made these passages, the more con- servative will be the brain, the more it will struggle against new thoughts. The more thoughtful the man, the more complicated will be the streets in his brain, and the more easily he will take to new ideas, and understand them. So with every fresh idea; we make rrieee a ot eede bhatt a Shs eatin eth) oh Seika Se tee bia iamae ee LS eee ce een atnrre ter mtn tet cee ten ocean peer toeh: Lata Lee alk er daiabemers nee anessirasnerehek ace eee MAIO Teeter oneeeenetttn RAJA YOGA. a new impression in the brain, cut new channels through the brain-stuff, and that is why we find that in the practice of Yoga (it being an entirely new set of thoughts and motives) there is so much physical resist- ance at first. That is why we find that the part of re- ligion which deals with the world side of nature can be so widely accepted, while the other part, the Philos- ophy, or the Psychology, which deals with the inner aature of man, is so frequently neglected. We must remember the definition of this world of ours; it is only the Infinite Existence projected into the plane of consciousness. A little of the Infinite is projected into consciousness, and that we call our world. So there is an Infinite beyond, and religion has to deal with both, with the little lump we call our world, and with the Infinite beyond. Any religion which deals alone with either one of these two will be defective. It must deal with both. That part of religion which deals with this part of the Infinite which has come into this plane of consciousness, got itself caught, as it were, in the plane of consciousness, in the cage of time, space, and causation, is quite familiar to us, be- cause we are in that already, and ideas about this world have been with us almost from time immemorial. The part of religion which deals with the Infinite be- yond comes entirely new to us, and getting ideas about it produces new channels in the brain, disturbing the whole system, and that is why you find in the practice of Yoga ordinary people are at first turned out of their grooves. In order to lessen these disturb-YOGA APHORISMS. 137 ances as much as possible all these methods are devised by Patanjali, that we may practise any one of them best suited to us. 35. Those forms of concentration that bring extra- ordinary sense perceptions cause perseverance of the mind. This naturally comes with DAdéréna, concentration; the Yogis say, if the mind becomes concentrated on the tip of the nose one begins to smell, after a few days, wonderful perfumes. If it becomes concentrated at the root of the tongue one begins to hear sounds; if on the tip of the tongue one begins to taste wonderful flavours; if on the middle of the tongue, one feels as if he were coming in contact with something. If one concentrates his mind on the palate he begins to see peculiar things. If a man whose mind is disturbed wants to take up some of these practices of Yoga, yet doubts the truth of them, he will have his doubts set at rest when, after a little practice, these things come to him, and he will persevere. 36. Or (by the meditation on) the Effulgent One which is beyond all sorrow. This is another sort of concentration. Think of the lotus of the heart, with petals downwards, and running through it the Swsumnd; take in the breath, and while throwing the breath out imagine that the lotus is turned with the petals upwards, and inside that lotus is an effulgent light. Meditate on that.ear eta aa , yr ae. ipa Pee Ha gE TE er IR ae tens seca gop ebm eens rier aa S(t sss sent erent Te ine abet eo erat 138 RAJA YOGA. 37. Or (by meditation on) the heart that has given up all attachment to sense objects. Take some holy person, some great person whom you revere, some saint whom you know to be perfectly non-attached, and think of his heart. That heart has become non-attached, and meditate on that heart; it will calm the mind. If you cannot do that, there is the next way: 38. Or by meditating on the knowledge that comes in sleep. Sometimes a man dreams that he has seen angels coming to him and talking to him, that he is in an ecstatic condition, that he has heard music floating through the air. He is ina blissful condition in that dream, and when he awakes it makes a deep impression on him. Think of that dream as real, and meditate upon it. If you cannot do that, meditate on any holy thing that pleases you. 39. Or by the meditation on anything that appeals to one as good. his does not mean any wicked subject, but anything good that you like, any place that you like best, any scenery that you like best, any idea that you like best, anything that will concentrate the mind.ta} = me OO ——— ey Mewtesl Lat iishal \etatalsisetic ‘sake See neta ee eee ae eee aera ral ee ae ee eee ae ee ae eee oe YOGA APHORISMS, 139 40. The Yogi’s mind thus meditating, becomes un- obstructed from the atomic to the Infinite. The mind, by this practice, easily contemplates the most minute thing, as well as the biggest thing. Thus the mind waves become fainter. 41. The Yogi whose Vrittis have thus become power- less (controlled) obtains in the receiver, re- ceiving, and received (the self, the mind and external objects), concentratedness and same- ness, like the crystal (before different coloured objects. ) What results from this constant meditation? We must remember how in a previous aphorism Patanjalt went into the various states of meditation, and how the first will be the gross, and the second the fine objects, and from them the advance is to still finer objects of meditation, and how, in all these meditations, which are only of the first degree, not very high ones, we get as a result that we can meditate as easily on the fine as on the grosser objects. Here the Vog? sees the three things, the receiver, the received, and the receiv- ing, corresponding to the Soul, the object, and the mind. There are three objects of meditation given us. First the gross things, as bodies, or material objects, second fine things, as the mind, the C/z¢/a, and third the Purusa qualified, not the Purusa itself, but the egosim. By practice, the Yog? gets established in all these meditations. Whenever he meditates he can keep out all other thought; he becomes identified with140 RAJA YOGA. that on which he meditates; when he meditates he is like a piece of crystal; before flowers the crystal becomes almost identified with the flowers. If the flower is red, the crystal looks red, or if the flower is blue, the crystal looks blue. 42, Sound, meaning, and resulting knowledge, being mixed up, is (called Samadhi) with reasoning. Sound here means vibration; meaning, the nerve cur- rents which conduct it; and knowledge, reaction. All the various meditations we have had so far, Patanjali Calls Savitarka (meditations with reasoning). Later on he will give us higher and higher Dhyénas. In these that are called ‘‘with reasoning,’’ we keep the | dualty of subject and object, which results from the | mixture of word, meaning, and knowledge. There is first the external vibration, the word; this, carried inward by the sense currents, is the meaning. After that there comes a reactionary wave in the Chz#fa, which is knowledge, but the mixture of these three make up what we call knowledge. In all the meditations up to this we get this mixture as object of meditation. The next Samdédhi is higher. Seen ean sa ree one eee ULI TN sii tsi ort Curr eeeiRe boo Larwe ts ts teie elle isl ns bt eee rat 483. The Samadhi called without reasoning (comes) when the memory is purified, or devoid of qualities, expressing only the meaning (of the meditated object). It is by practice of meditation of these three that we come to the state where these three do not mix. We can get rid of them. We will first try to understand p Since eager tri (Eo ARs, ee eer Serotec ase 7ax Sem ——